Sanger police commander resigns after sexual harassment allegations

A Sanger police commander has resigned after an internal investigation into accusations of sexually harassing a fellow officer, deepening scrutiny of a department already marked by one of the most damaging misconduct cases in its history. The departure comes as former officer Agustin Villatoro alleges he was retaliated against after not engaging in sexual acts with a higher-ranking officer.

The resignation lands inside a police department that serves more than 26,000 residents across about 6 square miles in Sanger, where city records show two main divisions now run day to day operations. The city’s current staff directory lists Commander Joshua Johnson as head of Support Services and Commander Jason Boust as head of Operations, while Johnson has also been serving as interim chief after Greg Garner stepped down on February 10, 2025, following his August 2020 hire.

The case now extends beyond the single commander’s exit. Villatoro’s attorney, Nicholas Wagner, is seeking records of internal sexual harassment, retaliation and discrimination complaints at the Sanger Police Department over the past 10 years, along with records of officers disciplined over those complaints. The push for documents puts the department’s complaint handling, discipline history and internal safeguards directly in view as city leaders face renewed questions about what they knew and when they acted.

That scrutiny is sharpened by the department’s earlier crisis involving former officer J. DeShawn Torrence. A federal jury convicted Torrence in January 2025 of eight civil-rights counts after prosecutors said he sexually assaulted four women while on duty. He was sentenced on September 22, 2025, to five consecutive life sentences, and in January 2026 the City of Sanger approved a $5.25 million settlement with one survivor. Additional claims remain in motion.

The city’s transparency portal currently posts policies including its 2025 Personnel Complaints Policy and Use of Force Policy, but the latest allegations raise a broader institutional question for Sanger: whether the department’s internal controls are strong enough to surface misconduct before it reaches the level of resignation, lawsuit or federal prosecution. For a department that has served the city since incorporation in 1911, the stakes now reach beyond one commander’s departure and into the credibility of the agency itself.