RIVERSIDE - Saying that her civil rights were violated when she was sexually assaulted and threatened by an on-duty Riverside County sheriff's deputy, a woman has filed a lawsuit seeking damages from the former deputy as well as the Sheriff's Department.

John Wayne Leseberg, 43, of Sun City, was a highly decorated corporal with the department when he was arrested last year and charged with a number of felonies alleging he committed crimes while on duty involving three women. He was assigned to the Lake Elsinore station and resigned from the department May 24, 2006.

In December, he entered into an agreement with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to two felony counts of burglary and three misdemeanor counts of indecent exposure in exchange for a two-year prison sentence. He is scheduled to return to Southwest Justice Center in July to be sentenced.

Leseberg also must register as a sex offender for a minimum of seven years before he is able to petition to have that requirement lifted - a decision ultimately made by the governor.

About three weeks ago, one of the women filed a civil lawsuit seeking unspecified damages from Leseberg, Sheriff Bob Doyle, the county of Riverside, the Sheriff's Department and numerous unnamed defendants.

The woman is not being identified because The Californian's policy is to not name victims of sex crimes.

One of her attorneys, Gregory Yates, said Friday that his client is going to need counseling for the rest of her life.

"She's paralyzed with fear," Yates said.

"Once something like this happens to a woman, particularly when committed by someone in authority, it has such a devastating impact that they never recover," he added. Yates said the woman still greatly fears men and authority figures because of what she says Leseberg did to her.

The lawsuit claims that, in November 2004, Leseberg arrested the woman, then sexually assaulted her against her will.

Leseberg followed that with threats that he would arrest her for a felony and "threatened her safety" should she tell anyone what happened, the lawsuit states.

"As a result of the aforesaid assault and brutalization," the court document continues, the woman was in fear for her life, went into hiding and "became a recluse in a room at the home of a family friend," staying a recluse for more than a year.

Joseph Cavalo, Leseberg's attorney in the criminal case, had this to say Friday about the woman who filed the civil lawsuit:

"The person is really nothing more than a conniving, back-stabbing drunk, a paid-informant" whom he says lied about people to place herself in a better position with police.

"She has no credibility," Cavalo said, and is filing the suit just for the money.

The woman's attorney said his client was very afraid to come forward and, according to the lawsuit, only did so after feeling safer once Leseberg pleaded guilty.

Yates said the Sheriff's Department is being included in the lawsuit because Leseberg's supervisors and those high up in the department should have known this was going on.

"It is unlikely that someone didn't know," Yates said. "Why wasn't this properly monitored? Why wasn't he properly supervised?"

He said he has not heard anything from either the county or the Sheriff's Department regarding the lawsuit.

Tom Freeman, executive officer for the Sheriff's Department, declined Friday to comment on the pending civil litigation.

In 2006, Leseberg received the sheriff's Lifesaving Award for his part in saving the occupants of two cars that overturned down a freeway embankment.

In 2005, he received two sheriff's Medal of Courage awards, which recognize those who put themselves at great personal risk.

Leseberg remains at Southwest Detention Center, where he is being held in lieu of $2 million bail while awaiting his sentencing.

If he had gone to trial and been found guilty as previously charged, Leseberg could have been sentenced to about 16 years in prison.

- Contact staff writer John Hall at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2628, or jhall@californian.com.