A former La Plata County jail commander has been charged with 117 counts of invasion of privacy for sexual gratification, according to a Thursday news release from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
Ed Aber, promoted to jail commander in 2018, is suspected of inappropriately viewing more than 100 strip-search videos of female inmates between Feb. 14, 2019, and Jan. 14, 2024, using his administrative access to evidence.com, the release said. He also allegedly engaged in unlawful sexual contact with female inmates and sexually harassed numerous female employees, according to the release.
Aber was placed on administrative leave in July 2024 after reports of sexual misconduct, according to the release. He resigned that same month before any charges were filed.
The investigation, led by the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, began on Jan. 2, 2025.
Aber spent more than four decades in law enforcement, including 19 years with the Sheriff’s Office and about eight years with the Durango Police Department, where he achieved the rank of captain.
Aber also faced an allegation of harassment during his time at the Durango Police Department – something that former Sheriff Duke Schirard was aware of when Aber was hired at the Sheriff’s Office in 2005.
An internal affairs investigation released in January detailed graphic sexual comments made by Aber to at least 14 female co-workers.
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The investigation found that Aber failed to follow department policies that require jail staff members to record nonroutine interactions with inmates; failed to record one-on-one meetings with inmates in his office; and on at least one occasion, met with an inmate in her cell.
In an interview with The Durango Herald in January, Aber did not attempt to dispute the initial accusations, saying he was “confused” and “angry at himself” for making his co-workers “uncomfortable.”
“I’m not angry at (the victims) – it’s how they felt,” he said at the time.
Aber declined to comment for this story.
According to the internal investigation, Aber allegedly called someone “sexy in a white trash way”; once described a dream in which he choked a woman in explaining to a female employee what erotica meant to him; and he once told an employee that he sat next to her because of her cleavage, among other allegations.
Female jail staff members interviewed as part of the investigation said they refrained from formally reporting Aber’s harassment because of fears of retaliation or that it could impact their personal relationships.
Efforts to reach La Plata County Sheriff Sean Smith were not immediately successful Thursday.
A spokesman for the Colorado Bureau of Investigation said that the CBI had no official statement on the situation as of Thursday, outside of the information given in the official news release.
Laura Latimer, executive director of the Sexual Assault Services Organization, said sexual abuse in jails – and against incarcerated people in general – is a common occurrence.
“The reason there was the Prison Rape Elimination Act is because these abuses have taken part in our correctional facilities, and there’s been a lot of injustice to people that are incarcerated,” Latimer said. “It’s really upsetting that this has come out, and we’re glad to be here to be able to support survivors in any way that they need.”
SASO works within the La Plata County Jail and at Community Corrections Hilltop House treating incarcerated survivors of sexual trauma.
Latimer encouraged anyone who has experienced sexual misconduct to call SASO’s 24-hour crisis hotline at 247-5400.
It has been a rough week for the La Plata County Jail.
Earlier this week, a lawsuit was filed against La Plata County, the jail’s medical contractor and individual employees at the jail alleging wrongful death of an inmate.
The inmate, Daniel Foard, 32, died on the floor of his cell on Aug. 16, 2023, from a perforated duodenal ulcer, which the plaintiffs’ attorneys said was “highly treatable.”
The lawsuit accused staff members of a “shocking indifference” to Foard’s repeated cries for help and his desperate requests for medical attention over a 15-hour period.
Aber is scheduled for an advisement hearing at 10 a.m. Aug. 12 in La Plata County Court.
This is a developing story. Check back with www.durangoherald.com for updates.
epond@durangoherald.com
