San Diego County won a five-year restraining order against a longtime Registrar of Voters employee who was found to have wrongly threatened and harassed a series of former coworkers and the Board of Supervisors.
Judge Rebecca Zipp agreed to extend and expand a temporary order issued Aug. 9 against Justin James Castro, a former elections office worker who sent hundreds of harassing and vulgar emails and phone messages to county officials.
The injunction is the first time county officials said they could ever remember seeking a court order against a longtime employee.
Castro, who worked for the Registrar’s Office for almost 20 years before being disciplined and placed on unpaid leave five-plus years ago, has repeatedly raised questions about the legitimacy of mail-in voting.
He claimed without evidence that the county system is vulnerable to fraud and the election outcomes could be compromised.
Castro is barred from coming within 100 yards of the cars, homes and workplaces of four women who work for San Diego County until at least Aug. 29, 2029. He cannot visit the County Administration Center downtown or the operations center in Kearny Mesa.
He also will no longer be permitted to attend public meetings of the Board of Supervisors in person, although he may call into board meetings and submit written comments. The court could modify that arrangement if Castro were to continue his behavior.
In the 16-page petition filed ahead of the Friday hearing, county officials accused Castro of repeatedly swearing at no fewer than four county employees in hundreds of contacts dating back more than three years.
“He frequently visits their offices and behaves in an abusive, harassing, aggressive and hostile manner,” the county told the judge. “On at least three occasions, he has pursued a Protected Person between their office building and a parking garage or parking lot.”
After the hearing Friday, Castro said he regretted the dispute but did not apologize for his acts.
“My frustration over years of being ignored brought me to the point where I did not even like the way I was addressing these people,” he said. But “I showed them the same amount of respect they showed me.”
According to court records, county officials repeatedly tried to respond to any concerns Castro raised about the mail-in voting process. Instead of accepting the explanations, however, they said Castro continued to verbally harass and threaten employees.