Officer Juan Pesina Jr. (inset) was arrested in August 25.
An opening date of Nov. 9 has been set for the trial of the Menifee Police officer facing 15 criminal counts related to sexual assault against five women – some allegedly while he was on duty.
Juan Pesina Jr., 34, is being held without bail at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning and is on unpaid administrative leave from Menifee PD. He was arrested in August 2025 and was originally charged with eight felony counts including rape, sodomy, oral copulation, assault with intent to commit rape, and burglary in incidents involving two women in February 2023 and January 2024. In September 2025, the DA’s Office amended the complaint to include seven more charges and three additional victims.
In addition to the criminal suit filed by the District Attorney, two of the victims have filed civil suits against Pesina and the City of Menifee. In addition to accusing Pesina of sexual assault while on duty, the lawsuits accuse the Menifee Police Department of retaining Pesina after those incidents 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.”
As reported here in February, sources within Menifee PD told Menifee 24/7 that Pesina was on administrative leave and was the subject of an internal investigation for the earlier incidents — prior to his current administrative leave and arrest. They say 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.
In response to a public records request by Menifee 24/7, former Police Chief Chris Karrer stated in September that information about an earlier administrative leave was “exempt from disclosure”.
In the civil suit filed on behalf of a plaintiff identified as Jane Doe, a case management conference is set for Sept. 3. In the suit filed on behalf of Christina Whitton, a case management conference is set for Sept. 17.
Information about their claims in the court documents can be found in this previous Menifee 24/7 article.
