A San Jose Police officer accused of masturbating in front of a family during a service call inside their home is now facing two additional sexual battery charges, according to court records reviewed by NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit.
A San Jose Police officer accused of masturbating in front of a family during a service call inside their home is now facing two additional sexual battery charges, according to court records reviewed by NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit.
In May, Officer Matthew Dominguez was charged with one misdemeanor count of indecent exposure, but Santa Clara County prosecutors have since added on two misdemeanor sexual battery charges, which stem from allegations he groped two women last year.
Before the DA’s Office filed charges in those cases, both women spoke to NBC Bay Area about their experiences with Dominguez after seeing his indecent exposure arrest.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
One woman, who asked not to be identified, told NBC Bay Area that Dominguez inappropriately touched her during a December traffic stop.
“He very blatantly groped my left breast,” she said. “I remember telling his partner that officer Dominguez had just groped me and that he tried to pass it off as ‘trying to help me with my seatbelt.’”
Another woman, Jennifer Rodrigues, says the same officer also groped her, this time while he was off duty at a party inside the home of another police officer in May of 2021.
Rodrigues, 25, said a drunken Dominguez grabbed her breast while pretending to admire her hair.
"It was a little too much on my breasts and then I kind of pulled away, leaned towards the right and he grabbed my inner thigh and tried to play footsie with me and tried to grab my hand," Rodrigues said.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office later charged the officer with misdemeanor sexual battery for each incident, adding one charge in late May and another charge earlier this month.
In a statement, San Jose Police Chief Anthony Mata said, in part: "I have no tolerance for behavior that does not align with the values of this organization, and I will do everything in my authority to hold employees accountable when they cross the line. As I outlined in my plan, we have taken numerous actions since these events occurred to prevent future misconduct.”
Dominguez was placed on leave following the initial indecent exposure charge. The department released a video in May of Mata walking the officer off the job.
The details in that case are disturbing.
According to court records, Dominguez and other officers were called to a home in April to investigate a violation of a Domestic Violence Restraining Order. But Dominguez soon fixated on the family’s 23-year-old daughter, according to court records. Investigators say body-worn camera footage shows the young woman was in constant view of the officer while he’s inside the home.
At some point, while the officer was talking to the daughter and her mother, the two women told investigators they saw the officer unzip his pants and begin to rub his crotch area.
Police say the mom then asked her daughter to get a glass of water from the kitchen, but Dominguez followed her there and pulled out his penis. Both women fled the house and summoned the father, who found the officer masturbating in the kitchen, according to court records. Dominguez, according to police, walked out of the house two minutes later and returned to work.
When reached by phone, Dominguez referred NBC Bay Area to his attorney, who said they’ll address the new charges in court, but declined to comment further. Dominguez pleaded not guilty to the indecent exposure charge and the May sexual battery charge, but has not yet entered a plea on the latest sexual battery charge.
Legal analyst Steven Clark previously told NBC Bay Area the mounting allegations against Dominguez could impact any criminal cases he was involved in as an officer.
“An officer’s credibility is extremely important and if there are other incidents of any kind of misconduct, any kind of veracity issues with officer Dominguez, that’s paramount to impeaching his
Dominguez is among a growing list of San Jose police officers facing serious misconduct allegations.
Just today, NBC Bay Area's Investigative Unit broke the news that a detective from the department was hit with two misdemeanor criminal charges for embezzlement and tampering with a department vehicle.
According to court records, the charges stem from allegations Detective Ismael Lemus, a 20-year department veteran, took a recently retired police car without permission and turned it into his personal ride.
Lemus, according to the records, also removed the vehicle’s license plates and GPS monitor, and filled the car’s tank at a city gas station 16 separate times to the tune of nearly $1,000.
Other recent department scandals include an officer accused of showing up drunk to the scene of a baby’s kidnapping in April, an off-duty officer being arrested on suspicion of DUI, and another officer on leave after allegations he traded a meth pipe for information from a source.
Following NBC Bay Area’s reporting, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo proposed random drug and alcohol testing for all officers.
