Deputy expected to plead guilty today

YAKIMA, Wash. -- A former Yakima County sheriff's deputy accused of attacking a Selah woman while on duty is expected to plead guilty today to multiple felonies.

"We have been told we have a deal," county Prosecuting Attorney Jim Hagarty said Thursday.

Sean Moore, 37, resigned from the sheriff's office Wednesday, Sheriff Ken Irwin confirmed Thursday evening.

Irwin said Moore most likely would have been fired given the allegations against him.

The seven-year deputy is accused of entering a woman's Selah home in October and assaulting her and a male friend while he was in uniform and on duty. The woman, who knows Moore, reported that he returned later that same day and forced her to perform a sex act.

Hagarty said that under the anticipated plea agreement, Moore would plead guilty to charges involving rape, assault and burglary, although the details were still being finalized Thursday.

Moore had been set to stand trial later this month.

Hagarty said sentencing would wait until after an investigation into Moore's background had been completed. Those investigations are typically conducted by the state Department of Corrections.

He has been jailed since his arrest because of prosecution concerns that he posed a threat to the woman if released. Bail was maintained at $500,000.

Bellingham attorney Jeff Lustick, who is representing Moore, did not return a message left Thursday at his office.

All eight Yakima County Superior Court judges recused themselves from the case.

An earlier legal skirmish raised when Lustick objected to Hagarty prosecuting the case was heard by visiting Kittitas County Superior Court Judge Scott Sparks. Sparks declined to remove Hagarty from the case.