A former Garden Grove police sergeant was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service early Thursday after he was charged with sexually assaulting a fellow officer and kidnapping and sexually assaulting a police department employee, Orange County prosecutors said Friday.
Charles William Starnes II, 52, is charged with kidnapping to commit a sex offense, sexual penetration by a foreign object by force, sexual penetration by a foreign object by intoxicating and controlled substance and assault with intent to commit a sexual offense, all felonies, stemming from incidents in 2007 and 2020 when he was working for the department, according to Orange County Superior Court records.
Starnes pleaded not guilty to all charges during his arraignment on Friday. He remains in custody on $5 million bail. Starnes’s attorney, Brian Gurwitz, said in an email Friday evening that his client denies the charges and was “eager for the truth to be presented in a courtroom.”
Prosecutors allege that Starnes sexually assaulted a fellow officer in March 2007 inside a Stanton bar as she exited the women’s restroom, dragging her out of the bar and into the parking lot. He allegedly continued the assault until he was stopped by two officers, according to prosecutors.
In 2020, prosecutors say, Starnes assaulted a female civilian police employee in a car as they were leaving an “off probation” party at a Long Beach bar and traveling to a makeshift bar and lounge for police personnel run by the police association.
If convicted of all charges, Starnes could face a maximum sentence of seven years to life, plus 14 years in state prison.
The Garden Grove Police Department said in a statement on Friday that the investigation remains ongoing and that it will continue to cooperate with the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
“The badge is not a shield from accountability, and we are grateful that these acts of sexual violence have finally come to light so that justice can be pursued on behalf of these victims who suffered in silence,” Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer said in a statement.
Starnes, a former president of the Garden Grove Police Association, retired from the Garden Grove Police Department in May 2026 while on administrative leave.
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