Ex-Costa Mesa officer pleads guilty to using police databases to stalk mistress and rivals

SANTA ANA, Calif. –  A former Costa Mesa police officer pleaded guilty to contacting his mistress thousands of times through text, telephone calls, and social media messages, sometimes more than 100 times in a day, over nine months and used confidential law enforcement databases to track her whereabouts, the whereabouts of her romantic partners and the whereabouts of his own wife.

The former police officer also admitted violating a restraining order by driving by the woman’s house after he was served with a restraining order and given a notice he was to be fired from the Costa Mesa Police Department.

Robert Jay Josett, 35, of Costa Mesa, 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.

Josett was ordered to complete a 52-week domestic violence program and was sentenced to three years informal probation. After Josett was arrested, he spent nine months wearing a court-ordered GPS ankle monitor.

Beginning in April 2024, after his mistress called off their relationship, Josett is accused of repeatedly calling, texting, and sending social media messages to his mistress, threatening to reveal explicit photos of her, and demanding to know if she was being intimate with someone else. He then began calling her and her new boyfriend repeatedly, as many as 58 times in a single day, and repeatedly driving by her home.

Between June and December of 2023, Josett is 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. Josett is also accused of accessing the police department’s FLOCK license plate reader system in order to locate his mistress’ vehicle and the vehicle of the woman’s romantic interests in order to follow them to their locations.

Even after Josett was placed on leave from the Costa Mesa Police Department in December 2023, he continued to illegally access the police department’s FLOCK license plate reader system in June 2024 in order to find out the address of his mistress’ new boyfriend in Torrance.

On June 28, 2024, Josett was served with an emergency protective order and given notice of intent to terminate from the Costa Mesa Police Department. After leaving the police department, Josett drove by his mistress’ home in violation of the restraining order and was arrested.

“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.

Deputy District Attorney Heather Heslep-Morrissey of the Special Prosecutions Unit is prosecuting this case.