Veteran Police Officer Facing Raps on Alleged Sexual Assault

November 7, 2008

Los Angeles, CA - An eight-year Los Angeles Police Department veteran was charged with sexual battery, prostitution, and other felonies against young women he allegedly came across with during his patrol in West L.A.

According to a grand jury indictment, police officer Russell Mecano, 40, was charged with soliciting sex from a young woman and sexually harassing another while he was on his duty in the said place.

Mecano was charged with one penetration of foreign object under duress, misdemeanor count of solicitation of prostitution and counts of sexual battery by unlawful restraint, and penetration by a foreign object by a public official.

The indictment accusing him of preying on young women he encounters during his patrol in West L.A. was kept a secret though it was handed down the previous month. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge David Wesley was the one who unsealed the said indictment.

The police officer was arrested the same day an indictment was returned by the grand jury.

He continues to be free in lieu of a bail that costs $127,000. If convicted, Mecano will face up to 12 years inside the state prison.