Officer Found Guilty of Burglary, Lewd Conduct
A veteran Los Angeles police officer was convicted Thursday of burglary and sexual battery for entering a home under the pretense of an investigation and molesting a 14-year-old girl.
Stanley Tanabe, 32, a nine-year veteran of the Police Department, hung his head as the jury verdict was read.
Tanabe was found guilty of two counts of residential burglary, one count of lewd conduct on a child committed by force and one count of sexual battery. Superior Court Judge Michael Huff allowed Tanabe to remain free on $250,000 bail pending sentencing July 20.
Tanabe, a member of the Police Department’s elite Metro Division, demanded to be let into the girl’s Hollywood home on Jan. 29, 1989, falsely claiming that he wanted to investigate a scream he heard, prosecutors said. After he was allowed in by the girl’s parents, Tanabe went to the girl’s bedroom, where he fondled her while pretending to search her, prosecutors said.
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