No plea from Chula Vista cop accused of child cruelty

The arraignment for a Chula Vista police officer accused of physically abusing his girlfriend’s 16-year-old son was postponed to Sept. 15.

Officer Roman Granados was present in court and was granted a continuance.

Granados, a 14-year veteran of the Chula Vista Police Department, faces four misdemeanor charges for getting into a fight with the teenager.

A San Diego Superior Court judge also granted a criminal protective order for the victim.

“As part of today’s praoceedings a criminal protective order was issued by the court,” said Deputy District Attorney Ryan Kirkenney.

“It’s basically a protective order which prohibits the defendant from having any sort of contact with the victim in person, over the Internet or electronic communication. He basically has to stay away from the victim in this case.”

As part of the order, Granados cannot own, maintain or possess a firearm.

The boy filed a temporary restraining order against the officer and his mother, Blanca Jimenez, a week after the incident.

Jimenez, the boy’s mother, is Granados’s girlfriend.

In court documents the teen alleges that Jimenez was also abusive during the incident.

A judge granted the restraining order against Granados, and under the terms of the order he must stay 100 yards away from the victim.

The hearing on the restraining order against the boy’s mother is to be heard Sept. 11.

Granados and his attorney, Earl Dove, did not comment for this story.

The police officer faces a maximum of one year in a San Diego jail.

Granados is currently on administrative assignment at the police department, said police Capt. Lon Turner.

The off-duty incident occurred June 5 after a promotion ceremony at Chula Vista Hills Elementary School.

According to the victim’s father, Granados “punched and choked” his son.

Initially the boy declined medical attention but later checked himself into a local hospital after experiencing head pain, Turner said.

The extent of the boy’s injuries is unknown.

The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office on July 29 formerly charged Granados with two misdemeanor counts of battery and two counts of cruelty to a child.

The Chula Vista Police Department’s Family Protection Unit conducted its own criminal investigation into the case and forwarded the findings to the District Attorney’s Office.

After the June incident Granados’s ex-wife, Andrea Granados, stated in court records that she would like immediate sole custody of the two children she shares with Granados.

She had previously contended in court documents that Granados was an excessive drinker and, as an owner of a fire arm, had the potential for “irreparable physical and emotional harm as well as immediate danger to our children.”