LOS ANGELES _ A Los Angeles police officer was arrested Thursday over allegations the officer had sex with an underage member of the cadet program, which has been under scrutiny since the arrest of three teenage cadets suspected of stealing several police cruisers, several law enforcement sources said.
The LAPD offered no additional details.
The sources, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case, said the department's review of the theft of three LAPD cruisers and other supplies turned up the allegations of a sexual relationship between an underage cadet and a sworn member of the LAPD.
It was not immediately clear if the cadet was involved in the thefts.
Last week, Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said three cadets had been arrested and accused of stealing three cruisers from department garages. Officers chased two of the stolen cruisers through South L.A. on June 14, resulting in a pair of car wrecks.
The investigation into the stolen cruisers quickly focused on a 16-year-old girl, Beck said last week. Two other teenage cadets, boys aged 15 and 17, also were arrested. Bulletproof vests, police radios and Tasers were also stolen by some of the cadets, Beck has said.
Earlier this week, Beck told the Los Angeles Police Commission that four more cadets, aged 14 to 18, had been arrested in connection with the thefts.
The only adult arrested as part of the probe was identified as Leonel Flores, an 18-year-old from Los Angeles. The others have not been identified because they are minors.
LAPD brass has long pointed to the cadet program as a success story. Thousands of young people, 13 to 20 years old, have participated over the years. The goal is to foster relationships between the city's youth and police while helping participants develop skills that will aid them later in life. Currently, about 2,300 cadets are enrolled.
Cadets participate in an 18-week academy training program, taking various classes while getting an introduction to police work. After completing their training, cadets can be assigned to one of the city's police stations, where they may volunteer for a wide array of tasks, including passing out fliers alerting residents about crimes in their neighborhood.
This is not the first time a city police officer has been accused of sexual misconduct in connection with the cadet program. Officer Abel Montes de Oca was arrested in 2015 and accused of trying to solicit an inappropriate sexual relationship with a 16-year-old cadet.
He was convicted of two counts of sending harmful material to a teenager this year, according to the Los Angeles city attorney's office.
