Welcome to L.A. TACO’s weekly Investigations Newsletter. I’m Lexis-Olivier Ray, the Head of Investigations for L.A. TACO. This is what we're looking into this week.
One early-November morning in 2023, former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Francisco Sosa was working patrol when he noticed a woman’s car broken down in the middle of the roadway. Sosa pulled up behind the woman and activated his rear lights while the woman was changing her tire.
The two briefly engaged in a "flirtatious" conversation during which Sosa “complimented her appearance and asked if she was married,” according to a report from the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) reviewed by L.A. TACO. At some point in that first interaction, Sosa showed the woman a photograph “of his exposed penis.”
That same month, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) learned of the incident through a complaint filed with the department and “immediately initiated an internal investigation,” a spokesperson for the department tells L.A. TACO in a statement. At the time, Sosa was assigned to the department's Pico Rivera station.
“The employee was relieved of duty pending the outcome of a criminal investigation,” another department spokesperson tells L.A. TACO. “Upon conclusion of the criminal investigation, the department conducted an internal administrative investigation.”
Sosa continued to be relieved of duty while the “administrative investigation” played out, according to the spokesperson. In early December of last year, Sosa “resigned,” a spokesperson for POST confirms with L.A. TACO.
Until now, the allegations against Sosa have not been reported in the media, and it does not appear that the sheriff’s department addressed the allegations publicly until we reached out for comment.
“Allegations of misconduct are taken seriously, thoroughly investigated, and when the evidence establishes that the law or department policy has been violated, appropriate action is taken,” a department spokesperson tells L.A. TACO. “The department holds its personnel to the highest standards of integrity, professionalism, and ethical conduct. The public places its trust in our employees every day, and we expect every member of our Department to uphold that trust.”
Through their investigation, investigators noticed a pattern. Sosa would meet women while on duty and then later sext with them and send them explicit photos. In total, they identified nine other women.
On Sosa’s department-issued phone, investigators found “sexual text messages, nude pictures of women” and nearly a dozen photos of sexually-explicit photos of Sosa, including multiple photos of Sosa’s “exposed or erect penis.” Six of those photos were either “taken, saved, or uploaded” while Sosa was on duty, according to investigators.
“Are you going to fuck me for my birthday?” a message to one woman read. “Show me what I’ll be fucking, you already know the dick is ready,” read another message.
In one instance, Sosa sent two photos of his exposed penis “with a black radio cord present” from his department-issued phone, while wearing green sheriff’s department uniform pants, according to an investigative report. The photos were sent to a woman that he had met during a “domestic violence/child endangerment call.”
In another, Sosa unlawfully pulled a woman over for allegedly making an illegal U-turn. When the driver argued that the U-turn was not illegal, Sosa admitted that he pulled her over “because she was pretty and he wanted to ask her out.”
Sosa admitted that he used his department-issued cellphone rather than his personal phone “to avoid trouble with his significant other.”
Investigators determined that Sosa targeted “vulnerable” women and “sexually assaulted” them by “sending and receiving sexually-explicit photos and text messages using his work-issued cell phone.” Seven of the 10 women that investigators identified stated that their interactions with Sosa were “consensual and included the exchange of explicit photos and/or videos.” Three said that they ended up having sex with Sosa. And one woman said that she received a text message from Sosa, “recognized [his] intentions and chose not to interact with him.”
Roughly a year after the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department learned of the allegations against Sosa, on November 6, 2024, a criminal case for “misdemeanor sexual battery” was rejected by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for filing consideration, spokespeople for the sheriff’s department and D.A.’s office confirm.
“The case was declined due to insufficient evidence,” says Greg Risling, a spokesperson for L.A. County District Attorney Nathan Hochman (the case was declined while former District Attorney George Gascón was still in office).
It’s unclear at this time how Sosa was punished, if at all.
“Peace officers’ personnel information is protected by the law, and therefore the department will not be able to provide that specific information,” a spokesperson for the sheriff’s department tells L.A. TACO.
On December 6 of last year, Sosa “resigned” from the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, a spokesperson for POST confirms.
Last month, on June 12, Sosa “voluntarily surrendered” his certificate to be a police officer in the state of California, a spokesperson for POST confirms, meaning he can no longer work as a “peace officer “ within the state of California.
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