Ex-San Jose officer cops plea over teen's pics

A former San Jose police detective who investigated sexual assaults pleaded guilty Thursday to charges that he asked for and received sexually explicit photos of a teenage girl while off-duty.

Anthony "Tony" Fregger, 34, is expected to be sentenced Feb. 21 to at least six months in jail and 500 hours of community service by Judge Daniel Nishigaya of Santa Clara County Superior Court.

As a condition of his plea to a felony charge of distributing or exhibiting harmful matter to a minor, Fregger has resigned from the department where he had served for eight years, authorities said. When Fregger is sentenced, the judge will determine if the conviction will be reduced to a misdemeanor, in which case Fregger would not have to register as a sex offender for life.

Investigators said Fregger first contacted the girl online in 2010. In 2011, she sent him a Facebook message saying she was 17 and that her birthday was approaching, when in reality she was 16, authorities said.

Fregger sent a reply that said, "You' 17!? Oh man, I thought u were like 21! Lol," San Jose police internal affairs Sgt. Johnson Fong wrote in an affidavit.

Despite acknowledging that the girl was a minor, Fregger requested and received sexually explicit photos of the girl in 2011, Fong wrote.

Investigators seized Fregger's personal computer and found the photos in a folder designated under her name, authorities said.

"We can't have adults, let alone police officers, exchanging sexually explicit photos with teens," said Deputy District Attorney David Ezgar. "Mr. Fregger knew this better than anyone. He has paid a severe price. He has lost his job, his reputation and will be incarcerated like the criminals he used to investigate."