Officer charged with sex assaults

A Los Angeles Police Department officer was charged with sexually assaulting a young woman and soliciting sex from another while he was on duty in West L.A., according to a grand jury indictment unsealed Thursday.

Officer Russell Mecano, 40, an eight-year veteran of the LAPD, is charged with one misdemeanor count of solicitation of prostitution and felony counts of sexual battery by unlawful restraint, penetration by a foreign object by a public official, and penetration by a foreign object under duress.

The indictment of Mecano was handed down last month but until now was kept secret. Unsealed by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge David Wesley, the indictment accuses Mecano of preying on young women he came into contact with while patrolling in West L.A.

Between Oct. 20 and Oct. 21, 2007, Mecano allegedly propositioned a 20-year-old transient woman following her arrest for battery, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Renee Korn.

Mecano allegedly gave the young woman $200 in cash and told her to meet him at the Holiday Inn Motel near the West Los Angeles police station, Korn said.

Instead, the young woman took a cab to the beach and later reported the incident to Santa Monica police, authorities said

On May 28, Mecano allegedly told an 18-year-old female he would not arrest her for possession of a marijuana pipe if she would have sex with him, prosecutors said.

Mecano allegedly sexually assaulted the woman behind the Palisades Branch Library and told her to meet him later at a motel, said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman with the district attorney’s office. The officer’s partner was dealing with other youths in the area at the time, Robison said.

The LAPD began investigating Mecano when the woman reported the incident to the West Los Angeles station. Mecano was arrested Oct. 16, the same day the grand jury returned an indictment.

Law enforcement sources said they have cellphone records that support the allegations.

Mecano, who has been assigned to home, made a brief appearance in court today but did not enter a plea, postponing his arraignment until Dec. 12.

He remains free in lieu of $127,000 bail. If convicted, he faces up to 12 years in state prison.

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richard.winton@latimes.com