SoCal Cop Gets 25 Years

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (CN) - A San Bernardino police officer was sentenced Monday to 25 years in federal prison for sexually assaulting two women while in uniform.

A federal jury in May convicted Jose Jesus Perez, 47, of Menifee, of two felony counts and a misdemeanor for sexually assaulting two women in 2011.

Both felony offenses involved aggravated sexual abuse, and one attack involved kidnapping and bodily injury," the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Perez "has a long and escalating history of inappropriate sexual behavior toward women," prosecutors wrote in a sentencing. "Although defendant is no longer a police officer and is no longer able to abuse a position of public authority to his own criminal ends, he remains the same person - someone who lacks basic respect for the humanity and autonomy of women," according to the U.S. attorney.

Perez was hired by the Los Angeles Police Department in 1997. He went to work for the San Bernardino PD in 2008.

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