Cop charged with masturbating at work accused of sex assault

A California police officer who allegedly masturbated in front of a family was also accused of sexually assaulting a woman last year, authorities said.

San Jose Officer Matthew Dominguez, 32, who has been charged with touching and exposing himself while responding to a domestic disturbance call in April, was accused of drunkenly groping a woman during a Memorial Day party at the Campbell home of another cop, the East Bay Times reported Thursday.

Jennifer Rodrigues, 25, of Menlo Park, said Dominguez touched her breasts and thigh and kept doing so even though she tried to rebuff him, according to the newspaper, citing her June 2021 complaint.

Rodrigues and her boyfriend, Andrew Pouliot, 30, reported the alleged assault to San Jose’s Office of the Independent Police Auditor, which shared the accusation with San Jose Police Department’s Internal Affairs Unit.

Campbell police then investigated the claim, but Santa Clara County prosecutors declined to file criminal charges, the East Bay Times reported.

“It’s just super disappointing that they don’t want to do anything about it,” Rodrigues told the newspaper. “The fact that they threw my case aside and don’t even have the heart to call and discuss it … it makes me feel like they don’t care about women going through this. I deserve compassion and respect as any other victim.”

Rodrigues, who told investigators she wanted to press charges in the alleged attack, said she hadn’t heard from cops nearly a year after filing her initial complaint. She only learned that the probe had concluded without charges against Dominguez when reached by the outlet, according to the report.

“They hadn’t really asked any other follow-up questions or updated us and now unfortunately, there are more victims,” Rodrigues said. “It just made me mad because those people didn’t have to go through that.”

Dominguez, a four-year police veteran, is currently on administrative leave after being charged with masturbating during an April 21 domestic disturbance call involving a “mentally ill family member” who was being violent.

“Evidence shows that after initiating the investigation, Dominguez sent the other officers away to locate the subject,” according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. “Shortly thereafter, Dominguez touched himself in front of two female family members. Subsequent to this, Dominguez exposed himself to the mother.”

If convicted, Dominguez faces up to a year in jail and must register as a sex offender. He doesn’t have an attorney listed and attempts to reach him Thursday were unsuccessful, the East Bay Times reported.