After a five-day trial, a downtown L.A. jury convicted Abel Montes De Oca of two misdemeanor counts: destroying evidence and distributing “harmful matter” to a juvenile, according to the L.A. city attorney’s office.
Montes De Oca, 32, was acquitted of two counts of child annoyance.
After the verdict was read, the judge remanded Montes De Oca into custody, and he is being held on $100,000 bail, prosecutors said.
He faces up to 18 months in jail at his sentencing, scheduled for Friday.
Prosecutors say that in September 2015, the officer met a then-16-year-old girl who was a cadet in the L.A. Police Department’s Community Youth Program. The program runs 18 weeks and provides physical training and criminal-justice education to students ages 13 to 20, according to the program’s website.
Through October 2015, prosecutors alleged that Montes De Oca sought an inappropriate relationship with the girl, sending her text messages and other missives via social media.
Once the officer’s mistreatment of the girl was disclosed, prosecutors alleged, he tried to delete photos and messages from his phone and computer. He also told the girl to wipe out any evidence of his correspondence, according to the city attorney’s office.
Police arrested Montes De Oca in August at the LAPD’s downtown headquarters.