NYPD Reviews Unsolved Rapes for Ties to Officer

[alp227]

Source: The New York Times

The police are investigating whether a New York City police officer, already charged with raping a woman last week at gunpoint in Upper Manhattan, may be responsible for other unsolved sex attacks, Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said on Thursday.

The officer, Michael Pena, 27, a patrol officer in the 33rd Precinct, is accused of grabbing a 25-year-old teacher off the street, leading her to a building’s backyard in Inwood and raping her there.

Officers from the 34th Precinct, who received a 911 call from a resident who saw the attack from her window, caught Officer Pena during the attack, while his pants were still down, officials said. The officers handcuffed him and found his police identification and badge in his pocket and his gun on the ground next to him.

Since his arrest, several law enforcement officials said investigators had zeroed in on a few unsolved cases to see if Officer Pena’s DNA matched samples in those rapes. Detectives have been looking through sketches of rape suspects, comparing them with Officer Pena, who is being held on $500,000 bail.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/26/nyregion/nypd-reviews-unsolved-rapes-for-ties-to-officer.html

[uppityperson]

1. “This is a very, very disturbing case". Makes me wonder why he grew the beard.

“This is a very, very disturbing case,” he said. “We’ve looked at other incidents to see if this individual may be involved; that part of the investigation is certainly still going forward.”
(clip)Investigators said the nature of the attack had the earmarks of a repeat predator.

“I think that if you throw out the fact that he is a cop — take it out of your mind that he is a cop, and you have a cop who would rape a woman, a stranger like that — you have to think it is not a one-time thing,” said one law enforcement member who insisted on anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. “It’s not like any other kind of crime.”

(clip)
Officer Pena’s appearance had undergone a change in the last month: he had recently grown a beard. The department generally bans beards, except when they are required for religious reasons, undercover work or perhaps a skin condition. Officer Pena had sought permission for a beard because of a shaving-related skin irritation, Mr. Browne said, and received approval from the Department’s medical division about two weeks ago.

[chrisa]

2. If the rapist weren't caught in the act,

The teacher would be called a whore and a liar, with her past sexual history being the focus of the trial, with the odds of the trial being stacked against her. Everyone would believe the police officer.