A former Orange County police officer pleaded guilty to harassing his mistress with thousands of texts and phone calls while using confidential police databases to track the people in his life including his mistress, wife, ex-girlfriend and more.
Robert Jay Josett, 35, of Costa Mesa, pleaded guilty to the crimes, which took place beginning in 2023 when he was employed with the Costa Mesa Police Department, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said.
Between June and December of 2023, Josett was accused of using the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (CLETS) database to make 13 inquiries on people and vehicles not related to his job, including his mistress, someone she dated and his own wife, prosecutors said.
He also used the police department’s FLOCK license plate reader system to find his mistress’ car and the vehicles of her romantic interests with the intent to follow them, court documents said.
In December 2023, Josett was placed on leave from the Costa Mesa Police Department, but prosecutors said he continued to illegally access the police department’s FLOCK system to find the address of his mistress’ new boyfriend in Torrance.
Beginning in April 2024, after his mistress called off their relationship, Josett continued to repeatedly contact the woman through text, calls and social media messages thousands of times over a nine-month period.
He threatened to reveal her explicit photos and demanded to know if she was being intimate with anyone else, the DA’s Office said. After discovering she had a new boyfriend, he began calling both of them repeatedly, as many as 58 times in a single day and would constantly drive by her home.
On June 28, 2024, he was served with an emergency protective order and given notice of intent to terminate from the Costa Mesa Police Department.
Following the incident that day, he drove by his mistress’ home, which violated the restraining order. He was arrested at the scene.
On April 14, 2026, he pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of unauthorized computer access and fraud, one misdemeanor count of annoying and repeated phone calls, and one misdemeanor count of contempt of court for violating a restraining order.
He was sentenced to three years of informal probation and ordered to complete a 52-week domestic violence program. After his arrest, he spent nine months wearing a court-ordered GPS ankle monitor.
“The actions engaged by someone employed as a sworn police officer are obsessive, they are frightening and they are dangerous,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “No one should have to live in fear of being tracked through law enforcement databases by someone with a badge and a gun because they decided to call off a romantic relationship. And no one gets to hide behind the badge as a shield for engaging in criminal behavior, and when a sworn law enforcement officer crosses the line from enforcing the law to committing crimes, they will be prosecuted.”
Josett’s actions were reported to Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST), which governs licensing for law enforcement officers in the state of California, and his certification review is pending, the DA’s Office said.