Officer Roberto Machuca, 32, of Riverside, has been charged with three felony counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor more than three years younger than him, one felony count of sexual penetration by a foreign object of a minor, and one felony count of oral copulation with a minor.
Machuca turned himself in on Tuesday and pleaded not guilty to all charges, according to the Orange County District Attorney's Office. His bail has been set at $100,000.
Prosecutors allege he had several sexual encounters with the minor starting in May. She was participating in the department's explorer program, a department program for youth interested in law enforcement, which Machuca served as an advisor for.
Machuca had worked for the department since 2019. He was arrested last month and is no longer employed by the department, prosecutors say.
If he's convicted on all charges, he faces a maximum sentence of five years in state prison and he would be required to register as a sex offender for 10 years.
"Law enforcement officers occupy a position of immense trust, and he exploited that trust to take advantage of a child for his own sexual gratification," District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a press release. "That conduct will never be tolerated among the ranks of those sworn to protect and serve, and justice will be pursued to the fullest extent."