DA Charges LAPD Officer With Sexually Assaulting 15-Year-Old Cadet

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The Los Angeles District Attorney's office announced Friday it had charged a Los Angeles police officer with sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl who was in the department's cadet program. It is one of several scandals the LAPD has faced in the last several weeks.

Robert Cain, 31, was charged Thursday with two counts each of oral copulation of a person under the age of 16, lewd acts acts upon a minor, and unlawful sexual intercourse.

Cain was taken into custody in June by Chief Charlie Beck himself, after a separate investigation into a group of cadets suspected of stealing patrol vehicles led them to the discovery of the inappropriate relationship between the the 10-year veteran of the police force and the teenage girl. The D.A.'s office says that Cain, who is accused of assaulting the girl three times, "befriended" her.

After seven cadets were accused of stealing three patrol cars and crashing them, a "top-to-bottom" review of the cadet program led them to Cain. Subsequently, more than 100 weapons were found in Cain's home, leading to the involvement of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Cain faces a possible maximum sentence of seven years and eight months in state prison if convicted.

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