The Los Angeles police officer at the center of a scandal roiling the department’s cadet program has been charged with sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl who was a cadet, prosecutors announced Friday.
Robert Cain, 31, was charged Thursday with two counts each of oral copulation of a person under the age of 16, lewd acts upon a child and unlawful sexual intercourse, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.
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Cain’s arraignment in a downtown courtroom Friday morning was delayed while he remains in custody in San Bernardino County in connection with felony weapons charges. A cache of weapons was discovered in Cain’s Rancho Cucamonga home after his arrest last month in connection with the sexual assault charges.
He is accused of sexually assaulting the cadet in three separate incidents at three different locations on June 14. That same day, three cadets were caught riding in stolen police cruisers, after leading officers on two separate chases through South L.A., sparking the investigation that revealed the cadet scandal.
Cain faces a maximum sentence of seven years and eight months in state prison if he is convicted on the assault charges. He may also be required to register as a sex offender, though that would ultimately be at a judge’s discretion, said Greg Risling, a spokesman for the district attorney’s office.
LAPD officer accused of having sex with underage cadet pleads not guilty to felony weapons charges
LAPD Chief Charlie Beck personally arrested Cain on June 22 after an investigation into the alleged theft of police cruisers and other equipment by cadets also uncovered sexually explicit text messages between Cain and the 15-year-old girl.
Seven teens, including the girl, have been arrested in connection with the alleged thefts. All of those arrested were dropped from the cadet program.
The cadets stopped at least one motorist while driving the stolen vehicles, giving the driver a warning, police said.
A review of text messages between Cain and the 15-year-old girl detailed an “inappropriate relationship” and also suggested Cain was aware of the thefts of cruisers and other equipment, which included radios, Tasers and a bulletproof vest, according to the LAPD. He may have also helped facilitate them, Beck said last month. Beck has said the sex abuse did not occur on LAPD property.
A subsequent search of Cain’s home led to the recovery of more than 100 firearms, including modified assault rifles, police have said. Last week, he was charged with 10 felony weapons counts in San Bernardino County. Cain pleaded not guilty to those charges.
He is being held in a San Bernardino County jail in lieu of $250,000 bail, records show.
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