A former Garden Grove police sergeant has been charged with sexually assaulting two women who worked for the department, including a fellow officer he allegedly dragged out of a bar and assaulted in a parking lot, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office announced Friday.
Charles “Chuck” William Starnes III, 52, was charged Oct. 16 with four felonies, including kidnapping to commit a sex offense, two counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object, one involving force and the other involving an intoxicating or controlled substance, and assault with intent to commit a sexual offense.
Starnes was arrested early Thursday by the U.S. Marshals Service in cooperation with the California Highway Patrol.
According to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, the first alleged assault occurred in March 2007 at a bar in Stanton, where Starnes is accused of sexually assaulting a fellow officer as she exited the women’s restroom.
Prosecutors said Starnes dragged the woman out of the bar and into the parking lot, where he continued the assault until two other officers intervened.
Starnes is also accused of sexually assaulting a female civilian employee of the department in March 2020. The alleged assault occurred during a car ride following a celebration at a Long Beach bar marking the completion of a police officer’s probationary period.
Starnes retired in May 2026 while on administrative leave amid an investigation into sexual harassment allegations, according to the District Attorney’s Office. He joined the Garden Grove Police Department in 2005 after working as a deputy with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
Starnes previously served as president of the Garden Grove Police Officers’ Association and had been assigned to the department’s Traffic Operations Unit as a sergeant since 2025.
If convicted on all counts, Starnes faces a maximum sentence of seven years to life in prison, plus an additional 14 years.
