Daniel Borunda

El Paso Times

An El Paso police officer was arrested Friday for allegedly sexually assaulting and video recording women while on duty, police officials said

Brian Michael Lujan was arrested Friday morning at his home on the East Side and booked into the El Paso County Jail on a charge of sexual assault and two counts of invasive visual recording, according to a jail log. He was being held under a $325,000 bond.

Lujan is the second El Paso police officer arrested this week on a sexual assault charges after the unrelated arrest of a longtime detective accused of molesting a teenage girl.

The allegations against Lujan involve three victims in three incidents over an extended period of time while Lujan was on duty, officials said. The ages of the alleged victims and further details on the case were not immediately available.

The invasive visual recording charge involves taking photos or video of a person's "intimate areas" without their consent, according to the Texas penal code. The charge is a state jail felony.

Lujan has been with the Police Department for four years and is assigned to the Pebble Hills Regional Command Center, police officials said. Lujan has been placed on administrative leave.

The arrest was the result of a five-month investigation that began after a complaint was made to the Internal Affairs Division of the Police Department, police officials said.

The complaint sparked two investigations — a criminal investigation by the police Special Investigations Unit with assistance from the FBI and an administrative investigation by Internal Affairs, officials said. The Special Investigations Unit handles cases involving government officials.

Agents from the FBI Civil Rights and Violent Crimes Against Children squads assisted police during the search warrant, FBI officials said.

"The FBI aggressively investigates civil rights allegations, especially those involving law enforcement officers suspected of misusing their official position to engage in on-duty sexual assault or misconduct," Douglas Lindquist, special agent in charge of the FBI in El Paso, said in a statement.

The El Paso Police Department is the lead agency in the ongoing investigation and police asked that anybody with information call Internal Affairs at 212-0157.

Another police officer was arrested Monday in a separate sex case, Detective Juan Carlos Gardea, 46, was arrested on a charge of sexual assault of a child for allegedly assaulting a 15-year-old female relative last weekend while off duty.

Gardea has been with the Police Department for 19 years and has been placed on administrative leave. Gardea remained jailed Friday under a $100,000 bond.

Gardea's jail mug shot was not released because it could compromise ongoing investigations, police officials said.

Daniel Borunda may be reached at 546-6102; dborunda@elpasotimes.com; @BorundaDaniel on Twitter.