Former Huntington Beach police officer ordered to community service for doxing and impersonating colleague

A former Huntington Beach police officer accused of impersonating a colleague and distributing their personal information online may avoid jail time after completing a diversion program and community service that he was ordered Thursday to enroll in.

Steven Tennant, 33, of Yorba Linda, was charged last March with two misdemeanor counts of internet impersonation. On Thursday, a judge accepted a motion to allow him to participate in a diversion program and perform 80 hours of community service, instead of allowing the matter to proceed to trial.

If Tennant completes the terms set before him, he will escape a jail sentence and will be eligible to have the charges against him dismissed.

Those allegations stemmed from posts Tennant made on the dating website doubleist.com in September 2020. He used the name of a fellow officer who was dating his ex-girlfriend at the time and shared the victim’s photo and personal cellphone number.

As a result, the victim began receiving text messages from unfamiliar numbers, some of which included lewd photos. He complained to a supervisor, prompting the department to launch an investigation.

Tennant was not employed by HBPD as of Friday, department spokeswoman Jessica Cuchilla said.

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