Ex-San Bernardino cop sentenced to 25 years for sex with prostitutes while on duty

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (KABC) -- A former San Bernardino police officer was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison on Monday for violating the civil rights of two women he forced to perform sex acts while he was in uniform.

Menifee resident Jose Jesus Perez, 47, was ordered to serve 300 months by United States District Judge Virginia A. Phillips on Monday.

A federal jury found Perez guilty in May of two felony counts and one misdemeanor count of deprivation of rights under color of law for the sexual assault of two victims in 2011. Both felony offenses involved aggravated sexual abuse; one attack involved a kidnapping and bodily injury, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The jury found Perez had unlawful sexual intercourse with a third woman twice in August 2011.

Two of the victims worked as prostitutes in San Bernardino. They testified they engaged in sex acts demanded by Perez out of fear of arrest. One woman said Perez forced her to perform oral sex in his patrol car; the other testified he forced her to have intercourse next to his patrol car in a vacant lot, and other times in motel rooms, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

A third woman said Perez aggressively solicited sex from her while he was in uniform when he found her stranded in San Bernardino.

All three victims testified they feared repercussions if they did not comply.

Perez "has a long and escalating history of inappropriate sexual behavior towards women," prosecutors wrote in a sentencing brief that noted a lengthy history of misconduct toward women. "Defendant poses a greater danger than most sexual predators; although he lacks a badge, he retains his police tactical training and knowledge of police investigative methods. Defendant remains a threat to the public regardless of his employment."

Perez was an LAPD officer from 1997 until 2008, when he went to work for the San Bernardino Police Dept. He was released from the SBPD in December 2012 and has been in custody since his September 2013 arrest in Texas.

Perez was investigated by the San Bernardino Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.