San
Bernardino police officer faces sex charges
Jose Jesus Perez is indicted on
suspicion of forcing two prostitutes to have sex with him 'while acting under
the color of law.'
As a San Bernardino police
officer, Jose Jesus Perez had hopes of becoming a vice cop.
He knew prostitutes who worked
in the area, authorities say, and gave tips to fellow officers on how to
conduct vice investigations.
But on Thursday, prosecutors
alleged Perez's interest in the subject was more than professional. He was
arrested and charged with forcing two prostitutes to have sex with him while he
was apparently on duty.
"The charges in this case
describe disgraceful abuses of police authority that simply cannot be tolerated
in our society," U.S. Atty. André Birotte Jr. said in a prepared
statement.
Perez, 46, was indicted on four
civil rights offenses that involved aggravated sexual abuse "while acting
under the color of law," court records show. He was arrested in Denton,
Texas.
The two prostitutes, whose
identities were not released, told investigators that they "engaged in the
sex acts demanded by Perez only because they feared for their well-being
because he was a police officer," according to a news release from the
U.S. attorney's office.
Perez, who was once a Los
Angeles police officer, was fired from San Bernardino Police Department in
December after an internal investigation into the allegations.
In an affidavit filed in court,
FBI Agent Heng K. Liv alleged Perez encountered one prostitute while on patrol
and asked whether she had any outstanding warrants and "other biographical
information," including her phone number. Over the next several days, he
sent a series of sexually explicit text messages to her, Liv wrote.
Liv alleged that on April 25,
2011, shortly after 1 a.m, Perez, while
in uniform and in his patrol car, pulled up alongside the woman as she walked
down the street near a convenience store. He told her to go behind the store,
where he allegedly touched her breasts while searching the woman's shirt,
"in a way that caused [her] to believe that he was looking for a recording
device," according to Liv's affidavit.
Perez then demanded that the
woman perform oral sex on him, prosecutors allege. When she told him,
"maybe next time," he grabbed her by the arm, and pulled her toward
him, according to the agent's affidavit.
"No. We are going to do it
now," Perez allegedly said.
Police Department GPS records
showed that Perez's patrol car was in the location where and when the woman
alleged the attack occurred, according to court documents.
Perez assaulted the second
woman in 2011 on three occasions in August and September, prosecutors allege.
The woman told investigators that she "feared that if she refused Perez's
sexual advances he could and would make her life difficult," according to
Liv's affidavit. The agent added that the woman told detectives that
"prostitutes have a common understanding that they cannot tell a police
officer 'no' if he requests sex."
The woman, who worked as a
prostitute in San Bernardino "for many years," told investigators that
Perez lured her to a vacant field, where he sexually assaulted her, Liv
alleged. GPS data, again, confirmed that Perez's patrol car was in area where
the woman alleged that assault occurred, the agent wrote.
Days later, Perez had
intercourse with her at two motels, Liv wrote in the affidavit. During the
second alleged encounter, Perez showed up to the room wearing street clothes
but also possessing his gun, the agent stated.
In an interview with San
Bernardino police detectives, Perez admitted to having sex with the second
woman but maintained that the sex was consensual, according to Liv's affidavit.
He denied having sexual contact with any other prostitutes.
Both Perez and the two alleged
victims told investigators he had never paid for the sex acts, nor had he
offered to pay for them.
If convicted, Perez faces a
maximum sentence of life in federal prison, according to Thom Mrozek, a
spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles.