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LAPD Officer Sentenced in Assault, Soliciting Sex on Duty Case

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Russell Mecano was a Los Angeles Police Department officer for 10 years, and for the rest of his life he will be a registered sex offender. Today Mecano was sentenced to serve eight and a half years in state prison for sexually assaulting one young woman and soliciting sex from another while on duty, according to L.A. Now.

During the sentencing hearing today, Mecano heard one of his victims describe her ordeal, and how what she went through would impact her for the remainder of her life. She was 18 years old at the time of her encounter with Mecano, who told her "he would not arrest her on suspicion of possessing a marijuana pipe if she had sex with him." Mecano was also found guilty of propositioning a 19-year-old homeless woman after arresting her for battery in 2007.

Mecano was found guilty in March of this year. He was arrested in October 2008.

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