California police officer pleads guilty to sexual assault while on duty

By Khadijah Rentas
CNN

(CNN) - A former California police officer accused of sexually assaulting a motorist during a traffic stop pleaded guilty in federal court, the Central District of California U.S. Attorney announced Friday.

In court late Thursday, Feliciano Sanchez, 34, admitted that while on duty on May 16, 2007, he pulled over an unidentified female driver in a traffic stop and forced her to perform oral sex on him, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Thomas O'Brien.

Sanchez, then of Los Angeles County's Bell Police Department, pulled over the woman for speeding or weaving down the road, said central California U.S. attorney spokesman Thom Mrozek, citing court documents. After finding that the woman, identified as R.H. in court documents, did not have a driver's license with her, Sanchez told her that he suspected her of drinking and that her car would be towed, Mrozek said. Sanchez offered to drive R.H. to her job, but instead drove her to the parking lot of an auto repair outlet in Bell, Mrozek said.