Former Ravalli County deputy charged with mistreating prisoners, other felonies (2024)

A former Ravalli County Sheriff’s deputy is facing felony charges stemming from allegations he sexually harassed and inappropriately contacted multiple women that he arrested, transported to jail or otherwise interacted with in his official duties.

Jeffrey Alan Gregoire, 44, was arrested Aug. 9 on six felonies: two counts of mistreating prisoners and one count each of patronizing prostitution, impersonating a public servant, witness tampering and evidence tampering. He also faces seven misdemeanor counts of official misconduct and one misdemeanor count of stalking.

Gregoire worked for the sheriff’s office "for several years," Sheriff Steve Holton said Wednesday, but he didn't have exact dates available. The allegations span a period from June through August 2023, when he was placed on leave and fired several days later.

"He broke the trust of our community and the trust of our office, and his alleged actions do not represent the individuals of the Ravalli County Sheriff's Office," Holton said in a statement. "I want to extend my thanks for the bravery of the first person that reported him to the RCSO."

The charges against Gregoire were first reported by NBC Montana. He appeared last week before Ravalli County District Court Judge Jennifer B. Lint and has been released on $10,000 bail.

The women Gregoire allegedly harassed or attempted to contact ranged in age from 21 to 33. The investigation was carried out by the Ravalli County Sheriff's Office and appears to have started after the co-worker of a woman Gregoire arrested in August 2023 reported to authorities that he was harassing herthe following day.

Charging documents filed by Ravalli County Attorney Bill Fulbright state that Gregoire began making sexually explicit remarks to the woman while transporting her to the county jail. His comments “started with small talk until he transitioned into telling (her) that she was ‘a beautiful woman,’" the charges state.

He then told her that he previously had sex with a married woman who had been fighting with her husband, according to the charges, and he made sexually graphic suggestions before dropping her off at the detention facility. He also allegedly told the woman he was going to give her a call at her work.

The victim later told authorities about Gregoire’s comments, but no audio recording was available because he had muted the patrol vehicle’s video system during the ride. Muting the system is “against policy and very unusual,” the charges state.

Using his sheriff’s office work cell, Gregoire called the woman at least seven times between 7:15 p.m. and 12:45 a.m. the next day, the charges state. Detectives “readily identified” Gregoire’s voice in a voicemail left after one of the calls.

“Hey, this is your buddy from last night,” he stated in the voicemail, according to the charges. “I have to call from a restricted number, just answer. Talk to you soon."

At 2:36 a.m., Gregoire used a voice-over-internet-protocol service to make anonymous calls to the woman’s work, where she was working the graveyard shift, prosecutors allege. A co-worker answered and then later called the sheriff’s office to report that Gregoire was harassing the woman.

That day, the county undersheriff and a patrol lieutenant confiscated Gregoire’s duty cell and placed him on administrative leave, the charges state. Five days later, Sheriff Holton spoke with him, and Gregoire claimed he was trying to help the woman and provide her with resources related to her arrest.

The next day, Gregoire allegedly used a phony Gmail address to impersonate the victim and contact a Ravalli County deputy who knew her. The email asked the deputy to “tell your friend I am sorry. I should not have said those things about him. I feel really bad.”

The victim told investigators she did not write the email, and data obtained through a search warrant traced the Gmail account back to Gregoire, according to the charges.

The deputy he emailed told investigators that Gregoire had previously told a story about having sex with a married woman involved in an incident he had responded to. The story matched the one he allegedly told to the victim he transported to the county jail.

The same night that Gregoire met the first victim, he allegedly offered to pay another woman for sex when he was transporting her to the county jail. He made sexual comments about the second victim’s appearance, according to the charges, and told her he was lonely, wanted to have sexual intercourse with her and would pay her to “keep it discreet.”

“Cops are supposed to make you feel safe,” the victim told investigators, according to the charges. “He didn't make me feel safe, he didn't make me feel safe at all."

Investigators learned of the second victim in November, and traveled to eastern Montana to interview her, according to the charges. Prosecutors alleged that the second victim was crying and holding her head in her hands during the interview, and told them she “‘stuffed' her feelings away because she didn’t think anything was going to happen.”

“Girls like me (a drug addict) don’t ever get the help like that,’” she told investigators, according to the charges. “And so, like that fact that it’s really happening it’s a relief … because no girl should ever have to feel like that.”

Earlier in the month, Gregoire allegedly attempted to reach out to another woman who had been arrested for a DUI and transported to the Ravalli County jail. Investigators found that Gregoire repeatedly viewed the woman’s criminal history the night she was booked, and looked at her mugshot at least four times.

The victim reportedly woke up to find a series of missed calls from a restricted number. When she picked up, the caller claimed to be an officer from the Stevensville Police Department who could “help you get out of it.” The officer later told investigators he was not on duty when the woman was arrested and “was not involved in anything related to her,” the charges state.

The calls were allegedly made from Gregoire’s duty cell.

The charges refer to five other women who Gregoire allegedly attempted to contact without any official reason. He was involved in calls for service involving some of them, while charging documents don’t make clear how he first learned of them.

In several instances he allegedly used the sheriff’s office records management system to obtain the women’s phone numbers and call them. In one case, he called a woman who had an active arrest warrant despite having no official reason to reach out to her. The charges state he spoke with the woman for two minutes but never actually served the warrant.

In another instance, he reportedly responded to a trespass call involving a woman's boyfriend, then viewed the woman's personal information multiple times after closing out the call. He later returned to her house and "had a private, unreported meeting with her," the charges state, and turned off his mobile GPS transmitter for 36 minutes. He allegedly said that he had been "parked, typing reports" when asked about the gap in time by a supervisor.

Gregoire’s next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 5.