Ex-Irwindale cop pleads no contest to molesting Explorer Scout

A former Irwindale police officer who served as an advisor to teenagers interested in careers in law enforcement pleaded no contest Friday to molesting an underage girl and sending sexual text messages to a second.
As part of the plea settlement, Daniel Camerano will be sentenced to two years and eight months in prison and will be required to register as a sex offender for life.

Camerano, 27, was originally charged with six felonies but agreed to plead guilty to three counts of having a sexual or improper relationship with a minor. One of the girls was 14, the other 17. Both were Explorer Scouts.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Georgina Rizk ordered Camerano to return to court Jan. 20 for sentencing.

Camerano, who was advisor to the department’s Explorer’s program, allegedly began a sexual relationship with one of the girls that lasted from May 2009 until December 2010.

The sexual activity allegedly occurred in a room in the police station used by the Explorer’s program, said Jane Robison, a district attorney spokeswoman. Camerano also pleaded no contest to sending sexual texts to a 17-year-old female explorer in November 2012.

Camerano resigned from the department last June. At the time he had been on leave for more than a year as Los Angeles County sheriff’s detectives investigated the allegations.

The 24-officer department has struggled with problem officers in the past.

A former officer was sentenced to a year in jail for stealing his father’s life savings and another officer pleaded no contest to two felony charges after being accused of sexually assaulting a female driver he pulled over.

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