Judge dismisses woman's request for protection order against Scott County deputy

BENTON, MO. — Judge Gary Kamp dismissed a woman’s request for an order of protection Monday in a case in which she said she was stalked by a Scott County sheriff’s deputy.

The woman, Sarah Valenzuela, and her attorney, Ted Liszewski, were not in Scott County Circuit Court when the judge issued his decision.

The judge last month had indicated he likely would dismiss the case because it was too similar to an ex parte request Valenzuela had filed previously against the officer.

In the first case, Judge Rob Barker found the claim did not meet the standard necessary for an order of protection against deputy Travis Keller.

During the ex parte hearing at the courthouse in Benton in June, an emotional Valenzuela told Judge Barker she was in fear for her life.

A single mother with a 9-year-old daughter, she said, “I feel very scared that something will happen to me and my child.”

But deputy Keller testified he had approached her in connection with a drug investigation. She said afterward the officer lied.

She said she was living in Morley, Missouri, at the time.

She told the judge she later realized the same officer had driven by her residence more than 200 times. After the hearing, Valenzuela told the Southeast Missourian that Keller first started driving by her Morley house in December 2017 and continued to do so until April 2018.

Liszewski, her attorney, said last month the latest request for an order of protection was based on new evidence, including GPS data from Keller’s patrol car and eyewitness testimony.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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