Ex-cop who sexually assaulted minor due for sentencing next month

An ex-Banning police officer who sexually molested a girl on several occasions and showed her pornographic material is slated to be sentenced next month to more than five years in state prison.

Christopher John Sayeski, 39, 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 or objection from the District Attorney’s Office.

Singerton scheduled a sentencing hearing for Jan. 9 at the Banning Justice Center. He stipulated a sentence of 5 years, eight months for the defendant and will require him to register as a convicted sex offender when he’s paroled.

Sayeski is free on a $10,000 bond.

Banning police said he resigned from the department last Feb. 11, 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, identified only as “J.D.,” 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.

There was no word on how long he had been in law enforcement.

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