An ex-Ada County detention deputy was charged with sex crimes. Here’s what we know

A former Ada County Sheriff’s Office employee was arrested and charged with nine felonies for allegedly sexually abusing two minors.

Gerald Fairbanks, 63, who was an Ada County detention deputy, was charged with seven counts of lewd conduct with a child under 16 years old and two counts of sexual abuse with a minor, according to online court records.

Ada County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Patrick Orr told the Idaho Statesman by email that Fairbanks worked for the department for nearly 20 years, starting in 1992 and leaving in 2011. Detention deputies are part of the jail services bureau.

Orr declined to comment on why Fairbanks left the department.

A motion to reduce bond, filed by Fairbanks’ attorney, said he retired early because he had a neck injury.

The charges were first reported by the Idaho Press.

It appears the charges stem from two separate periods, according to a criminal complaint obtained by the Statesman. The children, who are identified by their initials, were both younger than 13 during the alleged abuse, the complaint said.

One of the charges against Fairbanks alleged that sometime between 2008 and 2021 he “did cause or have sexual contact” with one of the minors, who was between the ages of 9 and 12, by rubbing, groping or touching the child’s breasts, nipples and/or butt, according to the complaint.

From 2014 to 2018, Fairbanks is accused of causing or having sexual contact with the other child by rubbing the child’s thighs.

Fairbanks is in the Elmore County Jail in Mountain Home on a $500,000 bond, according to online court and jail records. It’s unclear why he’s being housed there rather than at the Ada County Jail.

Boise-based private attorney Jon Cox, who is representing Fairbanks, stated in the motion to reduce bail that Fairbanks can’t afford to post and that he’s diabetic and needs insulin twice a day – which the motion alleges he’s not being provided while in custody.

The three-page motion filed on Jan. 5 was denied five days later. It said Fairbanks has no prior criminal history, is married with two adult sons, has no firearms in his house and is willing to “abide by any conditions that the Court places on him.”

Fairbanks is expected to appear in court at 8:30 a.m. on Jan. 30, according to online court records.