Menifee PD officer's court date on sex charges delayed again

By Doug Spoon, Editor

The arraignment and bail review for a Menifee Police officer accused of sexual assault of two women while on duty was postponed for a second time this week.

Juan Jose Pesina, 32, of Menifee is accused of rape, sodomy, oral copulation, assault with intent to commit rape, and burglary. These charges are related to incidents involving female victims in February 2023 and January 2024, according to a criminal complaint. Pesina, who joined Menifee PD in December 2022, has been placed on unpaid administrative leave and is being held without bail at the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.

Pesina was arrested Aug. 12. His already rescheduled arraignment was set for Tuesday, Sept. 2, but was postponed again until Sept. 29 at the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta. According to Molly Smith, public information officer for the District Attorney’s Office, “The Public Defender declared a conflict and Conflict Defense Lawyers were appointed to the case. At the request of the defense, Pesina’s arraignment and bail review was continued to 9/29.”

In one of the five counts involving an alleged 2023 victim referred to as Jane Doe J.H., the criminal complaint states that the defendant “did willfully and unlawfully enter a certain building, to wit, an inhabited dwelling house” on Briggs Road in Menifee “with intent to commit theft and a felony.”

Counts 6-8 describe sexual crimes allegedly committed by Pesina in 2024 against an adult female, referred to a Jane Doe C.R. In listing “aggravating factors” in the charges, it is alleged that both victims were “particularly vulnerable within the meaning of California Rules of Court, rule 4.421(a)(3)”. It is further alleged that Pesina “took advantage of a position of trust and confidence to commit the crime within the meaning of California Rules of Court, rule 4.421(a)(11).”