Former deputy banned from police work for having sex while on duty
Robert Stevens
Managing editor
4-20-2017
ST. GEORGE—A former Sanpete County Sheriff’s deputy has been stripped of his law-enforcement certification for having sex while on duty and for other misconduct.
The Peace Officer Standards and Training Council (POST) took the disciplinary action against Marcus Lambert on March 30 during a hearing in St. George.
Lambert himself did not attend the hearing, but council members outlined the allegations against him, which had been investigated during the two or so years between the hearing and the time he resigned from the sheriff’s office under a shadow of suspicion.
According to POST, Lambert had reportedly engaged in sex while on duty more than 20 times between 2010 and 2014. At least one of those occasions was in the back of his patrol car.
On another occasion, he left his patrol car abandoned in a public area while he went to a woman’s residence for sex.
The council also accused Lambert of lying to investigators and of prescription drug abuse.
Early in the investigation, POST said, Lambert initially denied any wrongdoing. He would later go on, however, to admit to the offenses.
In light of evidence, and possibly Lambert’s absence to defend himself, the council unanimously voted to revoke Lambert’s certification.
Lambert resigned from the Sanpete County Sheriff’s Office in 2015 after being uncooperative with the investigation. He had been asked to submit to a polygraph test, which he reportedly refused, and he did not respond to POST’s request for follow-up interviews.
“Deputy Lambert resigned very early into the investigation process,” Sanpete County Sheriff Brian Nielson said. “He was allowed to resign because the investigation was in such an early stage we had no cause for other action.”
