S.F. DA charges sheriff’s deputy for allegedly groping woman in jail

San Francisco’s district attorney on Monday charged a sheriff’s deputy with two misdemeanors for allegedly assaulting a woman in jail last year.

Deputy Nanette Musto on July 12, 2025, allegedly asked the woman, who was not identified by the DA, if she had “surgically augmented her body,” the DA’s office wrote in a statement.

“Upon receiving the inmate’s answer, Deputy Musto reached out and, without permission or lawful necessity, touched the inmate’s breast.” 

The incident was recorded on jail surveillance footage, the DA’s office wrote. Musto, 51, will be arraigned Tuesday morning. In the meantime, she has been reassigned, said Tara Moriarty, the sheriff’s spokesperson. Musto could not immediately be reached for comment. 

“The San Francisco Sheriff’s Office takes all allegations of employee misconduct very seriously,” Moriarty said. The complaint against Musto was immediately assigned to the sheriff’s Criminal Investigations Unit, Moriarty said. When the unit completed its investigation, the case was referred to the DA for an independent review. 

The woman remains detained in County Jail No. 2 at 425 Seventh St., according to jail staff and her attorneys. She is named as a plaintiff in a separate May federal class action lawsuit filed against the city, sheriff, sheriff’s department and individual deputies.

That lawsuit accuses deputies of forcing women held in County Jail No. 2 to strip down in front of each other while the deputies laughed and filmed them with body-worn cameras. The women said the alleged May 2025 mass strip search was just one example of a pattern of harassment and retaliation.

Criminal cases require a higher burden of proof than civil cases. Elizabeth Bertolino, a civil rights attorney for the plaintiffs, said it was notable that the DA believed there was enough evidence to file criminal charges. 

“Today, the district attorney confirmed what our client has said all along: A deputy criminally violated a woman inside that jail,” Bertolino said. “This is vindication.”