New Charge Filed In Sheriff Deputy's Sex-With-Minor Case

ALAMEDA and CONTRA COSTA COUNTIES, CA – Alameda County prosecutors today filed a new felony charge of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor against a former Contra Costa County sheriff's deputy for his involvement with the teenage daughter of an Oakland police dispatcher.

Ricardo Perez, 29, previously was charged with a felony count of oral copulation with a minor and two misdemeanor counts of engaging in lewd conduct in public for his involvement with the teen, who is at the heart of a sexual misconduct scandal involving multiple law enforcement officers from the Oakland Police Department and other agencies.

A judge ruled at a preliminary hearing for Perez two weeks ago that prosecutors produced enough evidence to have him stand trial on those three charges involving the teen, who is not being named because of her
status as a victim of sex trafficking.

A spokeswoman for the Alameda County District Attorney's Office said the new felony charge is based on new information that came to light during Perez's preliminary hearing, at which the teen testified.

Perez's attorney Joseph Motta couldn't immediately be reached for comment on the new charge.

Motta argued at Perez's preliminary hearing that the oral copulation with a minor charge should be dismissed because Perez didn't know him in July 2015, since the teen admitted at the hearing that she lied to Perez about her age and said she was married and had four children.

But Alameda County Superior Court Judge Joan Cartwright said Perez should have known that the teen was only 17 when he had sex with her in a car six times in a lookout area off Fish Ranch Road.

Farrell said at the hearing that it would have been unreasonable for Perez to believe that, based on his interactions with the teen, that she really was in her 20s and married with four children.

Several other law enforcement officers in addition to Perez are also facing criminal charges for their alleged involvement with the teen.

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