Ex-LAPD officer gets probation after detective accuses him of assault and blackmail

A former LAPD officer accused of sexually assaulting and beating a female detective with whom he was having an affair will avoid jail time under the terms of a plea deal reached this week, officials confirmed Friday.

Danny Reedy pleaded no contest to one count of misdemeanor injury of a spouse or girlfriend and was sentenced to three years’ probation on Wednesday, shortly before he was set to face a preliminary hearing on charges of extortion, domestic violence and violating a restraining order, said Greg Risling, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

Under the terms of the plea, Reedy is banned from owning guns, must complete one year of counseling and cannot have contact with the victim, Risling said.

Reedy initially faced up to six years in prison. The accusations against him burst into the public sphere in 2019, after Det. Ysabel Villegas filed a lawsuit that accused Reedy of rape and claimed he threatened to release sexually explicit images of her.

The Times normally does not publish the identities of sexual assault or abuse victims, but Villegas spoke about the accusations during a news conference announcing her lawsuit.

Villegas — who was married to former LAPD Asst. Chief Jorge Villegas — and Reedy had been engaged in an extramarital affair since 2013, according to a restraining order application she submitted years ago. In the lawsuit, she accused Reedy of raping her by coercion in a Pomona motel room in 2017 by threatening to distribute the pictures if she did not have sex with him.

Villegas also said she reported Reedy’s alleged misconduct to several high-ranking members of the department, including her husband, but nothing was done.

“With these photos, he emotionally terrorized me,” Ysabel Villegas said during a 2019 news conference. “He controlled and manipulated me.”

California

L.A. to pay $1.5 million to settle suit by LAPD detective alleging abuse by officer

L.A. will pay up to $1.5 million to settle a lawsuit from a police detective who said she was assaulted, abused and blackmailed by a fellow officer.

March 18, 2020

Ultimately, prosecutors charged Reedy with extortion, domestic violence and three misdemeanor counts of violating a restraining order. Prosecutors also said Reedy physically assaulted Villegas outside a Glendora restaurant in 2018.

Reedy has never commented on the accusations. Calls to his attorney were not immediately returned Friday. Risling did not respond to a question about the decision to offer a plea deal, and an LAPD spokesman declined to comment.

“Given how difficult it is to win a criminal conviction against a police officer, this is a win for Ysabel Villegas,” her attorney, Lisa Bloom, said in a statement. “For three years, she has demanded justice, and due to her perseverance, Officer Reedy will have a domestic violence conviction on his record and be forever banned from owning firearms, which should protect others.”

Bloom said Villegas was prepared to testify against Reedy at his preliminary hearing and trial, if necessary. Villegas’ civil lawsuit against the city was settled for $1.5 million last year.

Reedy was last assigned to Central Division and retired in 2019. Villegas, a 30-year LAPD veteran who last worked in the elite Robbery-Homicide Division, retired in August 2019, Bloom said.

Jorge Villegas resigned from the LAPD in disgrace months before his wife’s accusations against Reedy became public, after an internal investigation revealed he may have violated LAPD policy by engaging in a sexual relationship with a subordinate officer.

Sources previously told The Times that LAPD Internal Affairs investigators conducted a surveillance operation and caught Jorge Villegas having sex with the subordinate officer in a parking lot.