A Clackamas County jail deputy is behind bars following a reportedly weeks-long criminal investigation into his off-duty behavior, though details remain scarce.
Benjamin E. Lyman, 44, was booked into jail Thursday morning on eight separate criminal charges, ranging from harassment and strangulation to criminal mistreatment and interfering with making a police report.
Most of Lyman’s charges are misdemeanors, save for the two counts of first-degree criminal mistreatment, a felony. He’s being held without bail in Marion County Jail. He has not yet been arraigned.
FILE - A Clackamas County sheriff's deputy stands in the hall of the Clackamas County Jail on Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019, in Oregon City, Ore.
Conrad Wilson / OPB
In Oregon law, criminal mistreatment occurs when a person “intentionally or knowingly” mistreats someone in their care, such as an elderly person. Examples of such mistreatment could be withholding food or medication, physically abusing them or misusing their money.
The law similarly describes interference with making a report as when a person intentionally prevents a person from filing a police report by “removing, damaging or interfering with a telephone line, telephone or similar communication equipment.”
The charges all stem from Lyman’s actions while off-duty, according to the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office. Lyman has been a corrections deputy at the jail since 2007.
Lyman’s arrest came at least three weeks into a criminal investigation led by the Oregon City Police Department. The police department notified the sheriff’s office on April 28, according to spokesperson John Wildhaber.
The agency then placed Lyman on paid administrative leave on April 29, Wildhaber said.
Lyman’s arrest came days after Clackamas County voters rejected an increase in public safety funding, which asked to hike residents’ property taxes to help pay for deputies, detectives, jail beds, body-worn cameras and more.
Separately, the sheriff’s office made headlines last week after a video spread online that showed a deputy repeatedly hitting a man in the midst of a behavioral health crisis during an arrest.
