Civil lawsuits filed by two alleged victims of Menifee Police officer Juan Pesina accuse him of sexual assault while on duty. One of those lawsuits also accuses the Menifee Police Department of retaining Pesina with knowledge of his “propensity for violence, all of which is indicative of a policy, practice, and custom of defendants City of Menifee and Menifee Police Department to negligently hire their agents and employees.”
Pesina was arrested on Aug. 12, 2025 and later charged with 15 felony counts including rape, sodomy, oral copulation, assault with intent to commit rape, and extortion in incidents involving five women ranging from February 2023 to Aug. 3, 2025. He is being held without bail at the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning, with a March 10 date set for his preliminary trial hearing.
Scott Carr is one of the attorneys representing victim “Jane Doe JH” in a civil lawsuit seeking damages and demanding a jury trial regarding charges against Pesina for sexual battery and false imprisonment on Feb. 9, 2023.
Carr told Menifee 24/7 that the claim of negligence against Menifee PD “references the decision to keep [Pesina] after this incident.”
Sources within Menifee PD have told Menifee 24/7 that Pesina was on administrative leave and was the subject of an internal investigation prior to his current administrative leave and arrest, and that he was cleared for a return to active duty. Since that incident in February 2023, the charges against Pesina claim, he committed crimes including sexual assault and extortion with four other females while on duty.
Responding to a public records request about a prior internal investigation of Pesina, former Police Chief Chris Karrer said in an email to Menifee 24/7 in September 2025 that “after review, we have determined that the requested records are exempt from disclosure … Personnel records of peace officers are deemed confidential and are not subject to public release.”
Menifee 24/7 today made another public records request for documentation of administrative leaves and internal investigations regarding Pesina.
Karrer was forced out on Feb. 19, according to sources, although the City of Menifee officially refers to his departure as a retirement. Captain Dave Gutierrez has been named Acting Police Chief.
Pesina served with the Los Angeles Police Department from 2018-2022 before joining Menifee PD, according to the website Transparent California. There is no public record of disciplinary action regarding Pesina during those years. Carr said his office continues to seek information on Pesina’s background.
“We are in the process of conducting discovery regarding his propensity for violence that may have predated the incident referenced in the complaint,” Carr said.
The civil lawsuit, filed on behalf of Jane Doe JH, alleges that on Feb. 9, 2023, Pesina and another officer (not named in the lawsuit) responded to a call for service regarding domestic violence. After giving the officers information, the female asked if the officers could escort her back to her residence because she believed her abuser was still looking for her.
The complaint goes on to state that Pesina offered to take the female back to her residence. While there, according to the lawsuit, Pesina physically and sexually assaulted her, “forcing her to perform sexual acts with and on him.”
The complaint states that Pesina continued to stalk the woman and said that if she reported the incident, no one would believe her. Fearing for her safety, the woman did not report the matter immediately. In July 2025, she told a mental health professional about the incident and the matter was reported to Menifee PD. The next month, Pesina was arrested and the investigation was turned over to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office.
This lawsuit was filed on Nov. 7, 2025. The next court date in the case is set for Superior Court in Riverside on July 15.
The case was originally assigned to judge Raquel Marquez at the Menifee courthouse, but on Jan. 15, it was reassigned to judge Eric Keen at the Riverside courthouse. That action was in response to a “preemptory challenge to a judicial officer” filing in which Carr stated the following:
“The Honorable Raquel A. Marquez, the judge to whom this action had been assigned for all purposes, is prejudiced against the interests of the plaintiffs and/or their attorneys such that this declarant believes that plaintiffs and/or plaintiffs’ counsel cannot have a fair and impartial trial or hearing before the judge, and plaintiffs should be assigned to a new judge.”
Asked about his request for a change of judge and/or venue, Carr declined further comment.
The other civil lawsuit, filed on Sept. 9, 2025, accuses Pesina of unlawful search and seizure and sexual battery. It seeks damages and demands a jury trial. The next court date related to that lawsuit is scheduled for March 16 at the Menifee courthouse.
In that lawsuit, “Jane Doe CW” said she was at a gas station in the area of McCall Boulevard and Sherman Way about 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 11, 2023 when she noticed a Menifee PD vehicle circling the gas station while she was pumping gas. She said that after leaving the gas station, she drove into a nearby neighborhood and the police vehicle followed her. When she stopped in front of a house, Pesina pulled up next to her and asked if she lived there.
The woman stated in court documents that she said it was her aunt’s house and she was stopping by to check on her. Pesina allegedly followed her to the front door and when no one answered, he followed her to the back door. At that point, she claims, Pesina told her, “You’ve got a rocking body!” and asked what she thought about dating an officer.
At that point, Pesina allegedly asked the woman to raise her hands so he could search her – with no explanation why. He then allegedly put his hands in her front shorts pockets and pressed her genital region with his hands. Following that, he allegedly put his hands inside the woman’s bra. When she tried to leave, he allegedly said, “Oh, don’t worry, this is turned off,” referring to his body-worn camera.
Moments later, using a business card he had found on the woman, Pesina allegedly called her while she was in her vehicle. She told him she had done nothing wrong, instructed him to leave her alone, and hung up the phone. She reported a case of sexual misconduct to the Menifee Police Department.
Details of the internal investigation at that point are unknown. City Manager Armando Villa has repeatedly had no comment on this and other allegations of misconduct, saying they are confidential personnel matters. Menifee 24/7’s latest public records request is pending.
In Nov 2025, attorneys for Jane Doe CW filed an amended complaint, alleging violation of the victim’s civil rights.
“Defendant acting as an employer or principal, was negligent in the selection and hiring of each and every other defendant as an agent, servant, employee, successor-in-interest, and/or joint venturer,” the complaint states in seeking damages from the City of Menifee. “Further, the acts of each defendant, were consented to, ratified and/or authorized and confirmed by each other defendant.”
Since those 1993 incidents, three other women have accused Pesina of sexual assault and other crimes, resulting in the 15 felony charges brought by the District Attorney’s Office.
