A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy is accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl two years ago at his Cudahy home, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Brian Cardoso, 30, faces a felony charge of child abuse. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office alleged that the assault “constituted violence, great bodily harm, threats of great bodily harm, and other acts exhibiting a high degree of cruelty, cruelty, and indecency.”
“This child suffered an unimaginable breach of trust,” district attorney George Gascon said in a statement. “The alleged actions of this representative are reprehensible and unacceptable.”
Cardoso was fired nearly two years ago as a result of an ongoing investigation, according to a statement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Detectives arrested him Thursday and the department said he was being held at the South Los Angeles Sheriff’s Office. Jail records show he was released the same day on $100,000 bail.
The department called the charges against Cardoso “extremely serious and a breach of public trust.”
“As public servants, we are responsible for following the law, not breaking it,” the agency said.
Cardoso could not be reached for comment Wednesday and it is unclear whether he has retained an attorney.
County records show he began working for the department in 2016 and was last assigned to Century Station.
According to a copy of the probable cause statement filed last year to justify the search, the investigation into the case began in the fall of 2022. In September of that year, the East Los Angeles sheriff’s station received two complaints alleging that a 13-year-old girl and her 17-year-old sister had been sexually assaulted by a relative’s boyfriend, identified as Cardoso.
The younger girl claimed she was assaulted in mid-June 2022 when her family went to the lake and later visited Cardoso’s home. It is not yet known when and where the alleged incident involving the older girl occurred, and it does not appear that any criminal charges have been filed. Prosecutors did not mention it in Wednesday’s news release.
According to the affidavit, the girls’ mother told investigators she told Cardoso and her boyfriend about the assaults before police were notified, but he denied it.
Investigators obtained a search warrant and seized the phones of Cardoso and his girlfriend, according to the affidavit. Forensic examination of the devices revealed text messages between the pair discussing the alleged acts, though some of the messages were reportedly deleted from Cardoso’s phone.
Cardoso is scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 8 at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles, where he could face up to eight years in prison if convicted.
This is not the first time current and former sheriff’s deputies have faced sexual assault allegations in recent months.
Last month, ex. A sheriff’s deputy was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping. and rape of a 14-year-old girl.
In June, another former deputy He was imprisoned for 40 years for sexually assaulting four girls aged 4 to 13.
And at the end of last year there was another deputy arrested on suspicion of sexual assault an inmate at Linwood Women’s Prison.
Times staff writer Libor Jani contributed to this report.
