Menifee Cop, Juan Pesina Jr., Arraignment Postponed
MURRIETA (CNS) – Due to changes in his defense team, arraignment was postponed Tuesday for a Menifee policeman accused of sexually assaulting two women, including a domestic violence victim, while on and off duty.
Juan Jose Pesina Jr., 32, of Murrieta was arrested last month following a two-week investigation by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department’s Special Victims Unit.
Pesina is charged with forcible rape, felony sexual battery, attempted forcible sodomy, first-degree burglary, forced oral copulation, attempted forced oral copulation and two counts of assault with intent to commit rape, as well as sentence-enhancing allegations of perpetrating sexual offenses during a burglary.
His formal arraignment had been set for Tuesday morning, but during the hearing, Superior Court Judge Judith Clark was informed of a change in defense counsel and other matters that prompted a postponement of the hearing to Sept. 29 at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta. The defense team also requested a bail review conference on the same date.
Pesina is being held without bail hold at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.
He’s on unpaid administrative leave from the Menifee Police Department.
The agency released a statement soon after his arrest, saying its Professional Standards Unit had received a complaint from a woman on July 22 alleging encounters with the lawman over two years earlier in which he had sexually abused her.
“A preliminary internal investigation was immediately conducted,” Menifee police Sgt. Raul Perez said. “In order to ensure a fair, thorough and impartial investigation, the department requested an independent criminal investigation by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.”
Sheriff’s Sgt. Jim Peters said MPD Internal Affairs detectives informed the Special Victims Unit that “Pesina was accused of sexually assaulting a victim during an on-duty investigation.”
“During the course of our investigation, additional victims were identified in incidents that had occurred between 2023 and 2024,” Peters said. “Investigators determined Pesina encountered these victims while on duty and off duty.”
According to the criminal complaint, the victims, identified only as “C.R.” and “J.H.,” were allegedly assaulted in February 2023 and January 2024.
J.H. was Pesina’s first alleged target. The defendant allegedly accessed her property illegally and perpetrated multiple sexual offenses over an unspecified period, according to the prosecution.
C.R. was allegedly victimized 11 months later, suffering similar abuse, the complaint said.
The document didn’t specify which person, but it alleged that “after returning the victim of domestic violence to her home … the defendant entered her home and forcibly sexually assaulted her.”
The police department did not disclose when Pesina was hired, or in specifically what capacities he had worked, other than patrol.
If convicted, he could face life in prison with the possibility of parole.
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