SAN DIEGO — A former San Diego County Sheriff's deputy who was convicted of misconduct involving 16 women has been released from jail, again.
Richard Fischer, 35, has been in and out of custody twice, since pleading guilty in 2019 to assault charges.
CBS 8 caught up with Fischer inside a Scripps Ranch office building as he left a deposition in a lawsuit filed by one of his alleged victims.
“I want to know who told you about this meeting today,” said Fischer’s civil attorney, Joseph Kutyla, in the office hallway.
Attorney Dan Gilleon represents several of the women, who just recently found out that Fischer was released from jail.
“Our clients were called by the DA’s office and they were notified that he was already out,” said Gilleon.
In 2019, Fischer pleaded guilty to misconduct charges involving 16 women and was sentenced to 44 months in custody. He was released after serving just five months, however, due to credits for time served.
Then last year, Fischer was returned to jail after the San Diego County District Attorney said a mistake was made in calculating his credits.
“He went in and apparently he got out on some sort of mistake that the probation office made, went back in, and then he was released again,” said Gilleon.
Fischer’s most recent release was on April 6, according to the Sheriff’s department, after he filed an appeal claiming his sentence had been legally served. A judge granted his release pending the appeal.
Fischer's civil attorney had no further comment to CBS 8.
A court order prevents Gilleon from talking about what Fischer has said during the depositions.
“He's answering questions that are related to the case, that's what a deposition is,” said Gilleon, who hopes the civil cases will reveal more about the inner workings of the Sheriff's department.
“What matters to me is not just, why did Richard Fischer do all this, but how did he get away with it for so long? And, who was looking the other way? That's how we're going to fix this system,” said Gilleon.
Fischer's depositions are being videotaped, but for now those videos cannot be released to the public because of the court’s protective order.
Gilleon said currently he represents about 10 women with ongoing civil cases related to the former deputy.
WATCH RELATED: Ex-San Diego County deputy who sexually abused women while on duty sentenced to 44 months (December 2019)