BANNING (CNS) – A former Banning police officer who molested a girl on
several occasions and showed her pornographic material was sentenced today
to three years’ felony probation.
Christopher John Sayeski, 40, pleaded guilty in October to two counts
each of oral copulation of a minor and furnishing explicit images to an
underage victim, as well as one count of sexual penetration with a foreign
object.
Sayeski’s plea was directly to Riverside County Superior Court Judge
Mark Singerton, without input from the District Attorney’s Office.
Singerton in October had indicated the court’s intention to impose a
sentence of five years, eight months in state prison.
However, during the sentencing hearing Tuesday at the Banning Justice
Center, the judge was swayed by the defense’s arguments in favor of a lesser
degree of punishment, ordering the defendant to serve out the probation term,
as well as spend 180 days in a sheriff’s work release program, during which
he’ll have to be employed or enrolled full time in school.
Singerton also ordered Sayeski to register as a convicted sex offender
under Penal Code section 290.
Prosecutors objected to the lenient sentence but were overruled.
Banning police said the defendant resigned from the department on Feb.
11, 2022, a week after he was arrested.
According to the criminal complaint, the acts of molestation occurred
on different occasions between August 2017 and October 2020.
The specific relationship between the victim and Sayeski was not
disclosed, and it was unclear whether he assaulted her at his residence or at
another location.
“The Banning Police Department remains committed to uncompromised
integrity of its officers, and it will take all appropriate actions to ensure
the public’s trust in this law enforcement agency,” according to a police
statement released after the defendant was taken into custody.
It was unclear how long Sayeski had worked in law enforcement.
Copyright 2023, City News Service, Inc.
