A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy was charged with sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl two years ago at his home in Cudahy, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Bryan Cardoso, 30, is facing one felony count of a lewd act on a child. Los Angeles County prosecutors alleged the assault involved “violence, great bodily harm, threat of great bodily harm, and other acts disclosing a high degree of cruelty, viciousness, and callousness,” according to a news release.
“This child has endured an unimaginable violation of trust,” Dist. Atty. George Gascón said in a statement. “The alleged actions of this deputy are reprehensible and unacceptable.”
As a result of the ongoing investigation, Cardoso was relieved of duty nearly two years ago, according to a statement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Detectives arrested him Thursday and the department said he was booked at the South Los Angeles sheriff’s station. Jail records show he was released on $100,000 bond the same day.
The department called the allegation against Cardoso “extremely serious and a breach of public trust.”
“As public servants, we are responsible for upholding the law not breaking it,” the agency said.
On Wednesday, Cardoso could not be reached for comment and it was not immediately clear whether he had retained an attorney.
County records show he started working for the department in 2016, and was last assigned to Century Station.
The investigation in the case began in fall 2022, according to a copy of the probable-cause affidavit filed last year to justify a search warrant. In September of that year, the East L.A. sheriff’s station received two complaints alleging a 13-year-old and her 17-year-old sister were sexually assaulted by a family member’s boyfriend, identified as Cardoso.
The younger girl alleged she’d been assaulted in mid-June 2022, when her family went to the lake and visited Cardoso’s home afterward. It’s not clear when or where an alleged incident involving the older girl may have occurred, and it does not appear to have resulted in criminal charges. Prosecutors did not mention it in Wednesday’s news release.
According to the affidavit, the girls’ mother told investigators that she’d told Cardoso and his girlfriend about the assaults before reporting the incident to police, but that he’d denied it.
Investigators got a search warrant, and seized Cardoso’s and his girlfriend’s phones, the affidavit says. A forensic examination of the devices uncovered text messages between the pair discussing the alleged acts, though some of the texts had allegedly been deleted from Cardoso’s phone.
Cardoso is scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 8 at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown L.A. If convicted, he could face up to eight years in prison.
This is not the first time in recent months that current and former sheriff’s deputies have faced charges involving allegations of sexual assault.
Last month, a former sheriff’s deputy was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.
In June, another former deputy was sentenced to 40 years in prison for sexually abusing four young girls, whose ages ranged from 4 to 13.
And late last year, another deputy was arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting an inmate at the women’s jail in Lynwood.
Times staff writer Libor Jany contributed to this report.
