Former LAPD officer pleads not guilty to allegations he had sex with 15-year-old cadet
A former Los Angeles police officer pleaded not guilty Monday to charges he had sex with a 15-year-old girl who was enrolled in the department’s signature youth mentoring program.
Robert Cain, 31, was charged with two counts of oral copulation of a person under the age of 16, lewd acts on a child and unlawful sexual intercourse last year, as part of an investigation into the theft of LAPD cruisers by teenage members of the cadet program.
He entered his plea in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom and will remain in custody in lieu of $240,000 bail. Cain is scheduled to return to court in early March.
The accusations against Cain first surfaced in June, after a wild car chase through South L.A. revealed that cadets had been stealing department cruisers, radios and other equipment.
Late last year, The Times obtained court records that showed the cadets had been driving the stolen cruisers around Los Angeles County for months undetected.
Seven cadets were arrested in connection with the thefts, and a search of one of the teen’s phones revealed Cain had sex with a 15-year-old girl in the program on several occasions, police have said.
He was personally arrested by LAPD Chief Charlie Beck as the investigation unfolded. Cain, who was last assigned to the equipment room at 77th Street Division, has since resigned from the department.
Police found more than 100 firearms during a subsequent search of his Rancho Cucamonga home, and Cain pleaded no contest this month to manufacturing an assault weapon and possession of a “bump stock,” a device that allows semi-automatic weapons to fire as if they are automatic weapons.
Cain was sentenced to two years in prison in the weapons case. He faces a maximum sentence of seven years and eight months in state prison if he is convicted on the sex crime charges, and could also be required to register as a sex offender.
Police have said Cain may have been complicit in the theft of LAPD property, alongside cadets from the department’s Pacific and 77th Street divisions. Prosecutors have yet to charge Cain or any of the cadets in connection with the thefts.
Follow @JamesQueallyLAT for crime and police news in California.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
