Ex-San Clemente Officer to Stand Trial on Sex Counts

A former San Clemente police officer was ordered Thursday to stand trial on nine felony and three misdemeanor counts in connection with attacks on four women.

The felony charges for which David Wayne Bryan, 32, will be tried include four counts of forcible rape, one count of forced oral copulation, two counts of felony sexual battery, one count of assault by a police officer, and one count of assault with intent to commit rape. In addition, he faces three misdemeanor counts of assault, battery and false imprisonment.

Municipal Judge Ronald P. Kreber struck down six other felony and misdemeanor counts because of insufficient evidence.

Four of the counts that Kreber dismissed involved Bryan’s conduct toward a San Clemente woman he once dated. She testified Wednesday that she did not believe that she had been the victim of a crime.

However, during the three-day preliminary hearing in South Orange County Municipal Court, two other women--a convenience store clerk that Bryan met during his patrol duties and a fellow police officer who later was fired from the San Clemente Police Department--contended that Bryan had raped them.

Another woman who previously had lived with Bryan alleged that he accosted her at a bar and held her against her will in the parking lot while trying to persuade her to go home with him.

A fourth woman contended that Bryan had entered uninvited into her home and fondled and kissed her and forced her onto her bed before she persuaded him to leave.

Kreber said that Bryan will remain free on $50,000 bail and be required to report July 23 for arraignment in Superior Court in Santa Ana. He ordered Bryan not to have any contact with witnesses or victims and not to leave the state without court permission.

Bryan, who watched the proceedings this week with little expression, declined comment.