MBPD officer charged with sexting to teen

by Donald Morrison

A Manhattan Beach Police Department officer was charged on Feb. 25 with sending sexually explicit text messages to a 15-year-old girl. 

Officer John Cheatham, 33, allegedly met the underaged victim while she was at the MBPD station to report a crime, in 2019. He’s accused of sending her sexually suggestive messages through social media sites between November of that year and June 2020. 

“Instead of providing assistance and support to the victim, this officer is alleged to have abused his authority when she was most vulnerable,” Los Angeles County  District Attorney George Gascón said in a press release. “If officers break the law they were sworn to uphold, they will be held accountable for their actions by my office.”

An arraignment is scheduled for June 24 at the Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles. The case remains under investigation by the LAPD. Officer Cheatham has been placed on administrative leave, according to MBPD information officer Tim Vins. ER

 

Comments:

comments so far. Comments posted to EasyReaderNews.com may be reprinted in the Easy Reader print edition, which is published each Thursday.