A Menifee police officer made his first court appearance on Thursday, Aug 14, to answer to eight felony charges, including an allegation that he sexually assaulted a victim of domestic violence after he returned her to her home.
And the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office said in a court filing that it plans to enter into evidence previous acts of sexual assault and domestic violence.
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Juan Jose Pesina Jr., 32, faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted as charged. His scheduled arraignment on Thursday at the Southwest Justice Center in French Valley was postponed to Sept. 2. He wore a red jail jumpsuit, indicating he is being held in a separate inmate population at the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.
Pesina, who was arrested on Tuesday, is being held without the possibility of bail. He is on administrative leave from the Menifee Police Department.
Two victims are listed in the complaint filed Thursday by the District Attorney’s Office.
The crimes are alleged to have started in February 2023, three months after Pesina joined the Menifee Police Department after four years with the Los Angeles Police Department.
A minor older than 14 was the victim of sodomy, rape, forced oral copulation, assault during a burglary and burglary of an inhabited dwelling on Feb. 9, 2023, the criminal complaint says. A second alleged victim of unspecified age was the victim of forced oral copulation, assault with the intent to commit a sex crime and sexual battery on Jan. 8, 2024, the complaint says.
The complaint lists aggravating factors. Among them:
“It is further alleged defendant … engaged in violent conduct … after returning a victim of domestic violence to her home and defendant entered her home and forcibly assaulted her,” the complaint says.
The complaint lists the address of that alleged assault as the Thousand Trails Wilderness Lakes RV park.
The complaint also says a police report contains unspecified previous allegations of sexual assault and domestic violence.
Pesina has hired an attorney who was not in court on Thursday. Online records do not identify that attorney.
Pesina worked for the LAPD from June 11, 2018, to Dec. 1, 2024, according to the National Police Index, a database of peace officers. He was hired by Menifee police on Dec. 5, 2024.
“He applied with us and went through the background process prior to his departure from LAPD,” Menifee Lt. Paul Barbieri said in an email Thursday. “Once completed, he was extended an offer of employment, which he accepted and resigned his position with LAPD once he received a start date for Menifee PD.”
Amy McKenzie, a spokeswoman for the Riverside County DA, said her office did not know whether the LAPD was investigating Pesina. The LAPD did not respond Thursday to a request for comment.