LAPD officer sentenced to prison for sexual assaulting one woman, soliciting sex from another

A Los Angeles Police officer convicted of sexually assaulting one young woman and soliciting sex from another while on duty was sentenced to 8 1/2 years in state prison Thursday.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Perry also ordered Russell Mecano, a 10-year veteran officer, to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. Before sentencing Mecano, Perry heard about the pain and anguish he inflicted on the woman who was 18 at time she was assaulted.

Mecano was found guilty of one misdemeanor count of solicitation and one felony count each of sexual battery and penetration with a foreign object by a public safety official and penetration with a foreign object by force or duress.

Mecano, a patrol officer in West Los Angeles, propositioned a 19-year-old homeless woman after her arrest on suspicion of battery in October 2007. Mecano gave the young woman $200 in cash and told her to meet him at the Holiday Inn near the West Los Angeles Station. Instead, she asked a cab driver to take her to the beach. She reported the incident on March 16, 2008, to Santa Monica police and later to the LAPD.

On May 28, 2008, Mecano told an 18-year-old female he would not arrest her on suspicion of possessing a marijuana pipe if she had sex with him, prosecutors said. He initially made her promise to meet him at a nearby Holiday Inn but then sexually assaulted her out of sight behind the Palisades Branch library. The young woman reported the incident to authorities.

Mecano was arrested on Oct. 16, 2008.

If you or someone you know is facing sex crime charges , contact the law office of Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney Robert Helfend to build an aggressive and tough defense on your behalf.