Professional poker player and convicted child molester Shahram “Shawn” Sheikhan, who was just disinivited from an upcoming charity poker event run by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department because of media outcry, attended a similar charity poker event the department held last year, PokerHelper.com has learned exclusively.

In addition, PokerHelper.com has also learned exclusively, the Los Angeles County deputy sheriff who invited Sheikhan to both charity events was given $2,500 in chips by the child-molesting ex-con at last year’s World Series of Poker, so the deputy could try to qualify for the WSOP main event.

Sheikhan was announced by the Sheriff’s Department earlier this year as an invited celebrity guest to the February 24, 2008, second annual Memorial Poker Classic, run by the Sheriff’s Department’s Transit Services Bureau, at the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California, to raise monies for the families of law enforcement officers and firefighters who perished in the line of duty.

But, after media organizations this week contacted the Sherrif’s Department and questioned the invitation of a convicted child molester to a charity event run by law enforcement, the Sherrif’s Department rescinded the invitation.

However, PokerHelper.com can now report, Sheikhan attended a similar charity poker event run by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in 2007.

That event, the first Memorial Poker Classic, was held last March at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles and also raised monies for the families of law enforcement officers and firefighters who died in the line.

According to a blog post made on September 25, 2007, by Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff Scott M. Diamond, an organizer of last year’s inaugural Memorial Poker Classic as well as the upcoming second annual Memorial Poker Classic, at www.wisehandpoker.com/blog/index.php/sdiamond/2007/09/25/true_meaning_of_friendship and just discovered by PokerHelper.com, poker pervert Sheikhan was invited to and attended last year’s Memorial Poker Classic.

In addition, Diamond in his blog post defends Sheikhan’s character, and–perhaps most shockingly–admits he accepted $2,500 worth of poker chips from the pro–which may explain why Diamond is such a supporter of the poker perv.

The blog post by Diamond, in part, reads: “Last March, I put on a charity poker tournament to raise money for families of fallen officers and firefighters who have died in the line of duty. It was at Commerce Casino here in Los Angeles…I met Shawn Sheikhan during the Los Angeles Poker Classic and he assured me he would be there. So on the day of the event, Shawn made his way up to the ballroom, taking timeout of playing in his high stakes cash game to support our cause. Shawn and I talked off and on all evening. He (and another pro, Mark Seif) were the only two professional players to show up. They did not disappoint the other players who showed. Mark and Shawn were great. They took pictures, signed autographs and played in the event. I have kept in touch with Shawn on a weekly basis since the tournament and he is not only a great husband and father, he is a kind and caring individual and donates a lot of time and money to different charities.

“During the World Series of Poker, we had breakfast and lunch a few times. He picked me up at the hotel I was staying at and I hung out watching him play poker at the Bellagio…The next day I went to the Bellagio with my family and met Shawn. Shawn gave me $2,500 in chips and insisted I play a mega-satellite that night to try and get in the main event. I have never accepted money to play poker from anyone, but Shawn was pretty determined, so I accepted and was 7 people from making the Main Event when the guy hit a 1-outer on the river to bury my dream.

“Well, let me get to the real story. Shawn was arrested by an a federal immigration agent going through files of immigrants who have been arrested for ANYTHING. A waste of the taxpayers’ money…I know what happened to Shawn 12 years ago. I am a cop. What he went through was complete and utter nonsense. The system failed him and he had to pay a price for it. Now because of some egotistical INS agent, he has to relive a nightmare that should of never happened all over again. I will stake my 20-year reputation on Shawn Sheikhan!!!! He is a good man, a good father and a good friend and I will support him in any way I can.Take care, be safe–Scott Diamond.”

Sheikhan, 38, an Iranian native who lives in Las Vegas, was convicted of sexual battery of a minor and other sex crimes in 1995 in California and served nine months in jail and five years probation. The U.S. government tried to deport him back to Iran last year, but the deportation hearing was halted by a judge on a technicality, when the Feds neglected to provide the proper paperwork documenting Sheikhan’s criminal record.

Officials in Contra Costa County, California, where Sheikhan was convicted, destroyed his records after 10 years. However, at least one independent watchdog group that monitors sex criminals now says it still may be able to find copies of those records, and if it does, it says it plans to turn them over to the Feds so the deportation effort can be resumed.

A year ago Sheikhan wasn’t attracting much media attention. But in the past 12 months, he was the subject of a deportation hearing, his sex crime past was exposed and then he appeared on NBC’s poker TV show, “Poker After Dark.” The combination of events has put the media spotlight on him.

(E-mail Tom Somach at tomsomach@yahoo.com.)