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A 2007 rape in Santa Rosa has been traced to a former Sonoma County
sheriff’s deputy and Petaluma police officer who was convicted of a
similar crime in Baltimore nearly a decade ago and is serving a 50-
year sentence, investigators say.

Authorities say DNA evidence links Ricky Marion Bostic, 52, to the
rape of a woman in her 30s who was attacked by a man who broke into
her Juilliard Park home.

“The victim does not know Bostic at all,” Santa Rosa police Sgt.
Chris Mahurin said Friday. “We believe she was targeted, but they
did not know each other.”

Police say Bostic was a sheriff’s deputy who was off-duty at the
time of the assault.

A criminal complaint shows he’s charged with burglary, assault
during a burglary and raping an unconscious person in connection
with the April 8, 2007 crime.

Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick said his department would
cooperate with the investigation.

“I am deeply disturbed by the allegations involving one of our
former employees,” he said in a statement. “Mr. Bostic’s acts do not reflect the high standards of the men and women of the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office.

“It’s my sincere hope that justice be served to the victim.”

Bostic is in custody at the Roxbury Correctional Institution in
Hagerstown, Maryland, where he’s serving a 50-year sentence after
being convicted in 2013 of sexually assaulting two women in the
Baltimore area.

Sonoma County officials plan to extradite him to face charges here.

“We believe we have sufficient evidence to prove that he committed a
heinous offense,” District Attorney Jill Ravitch said. “We see how
laws have changed in California. It’s imperative that we ensure that
this man stays incarcerated as long as possible.”

The assault had gone unsolved, and it wasn’t until last December
that investigators submitted evidence from a sexual assault
examination kit to the Department of Justice for analysis. The
evidence matched up with Bostic’s DNA in April.

Mahurin said investigators interviewed Bostic last month. He would
not disclose the results of the interview and said he was unsure
whether Bostic had an attorney.

Bostic was a Petaluma police officer from May 1998 to April 2001.

Petaluma police Lt. Tim Lyons said few people on staff know Bostic,
and he is unaware of any notable duties or achievements by the
former officer.

“I can say he left here in good standing and was hired by the Sonoma
County Sheriff’s Office,” Lyons said.

In 2005, Bostic was involved in the death of a suspect who was
shocked with a Taser while fighting deputies in 2005, but all
parties were cleared of wrongdoing.

Court records show Bostic was convicted of DUI on April 14, 2009 and
sentenced to three years of probation. He resigned from the
Sheriff’s Office the next month and moved to Maryland.

Bostic had been working as a security guard for Greater Baltimore
Medical Center in 2013, according to the Baltimore Sun.

He was convicted of breaking into a home on May 24, 2012 and
sexually assaulting two women in separate rooms. Baltimore County
police linked Bostic to the assaults via fingerprints, DNA and a
cellphone camera with pictures of one of the victims, the Sun
reported.

Police tied Bostic to six other burglaries and another sexual
assault over a 56-day period that summer in the Baltimore area, and
they recovered property that included credit cards, Xbox and Wii
gaming systems and a laptop computer.

Local investigators haven’t uncovered any other incidents involving
Bostic in Sonoma County, but Mahurin said anyone with information
should contact authorities.

The victim from April 2007 has been offered assistance from the
county’s Family Justice Center and the DA’s victim services staff
will help her navigate the court system, Ravitch said.

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at
colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi. You can
reach Staff Writer Lori A. Carter at 707-521-5470 or lori.carter@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @loriacarter.

https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/former-sonoma-county- sheriffs-deputy-accused-of-2007-rape/

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