Indio police officer to stand trial on rape charges
A Indio police officer accused of raping a young woman will stand trial after a judge ruled Thursday there was sufficient evidence to proceed.
34-year-old Sergio Ramirez, is charged with rape by force or fear and oral copulation by force or violence. He’s accused of raping a young woman at his home back in 2016. Ramirez pleaded not guilty to the charges.
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Prosecutors called on an investigator from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department to testify during the preliminary hearing. She answered questions and went into graphic detail on what happened on the night of the alleged rape after interviewing the victim, identified in court as “Jane Doe”. The investigator said the victim was fearful and “froze” and stayed silent during the alleged encounter.
Ramirez’s attorney argued there was not enough physical evidence presented for his client to face the charges in a trial. He declined to comment on the case after Thursday’s hearing concluded.
According to a Riverside County Sheriff’s investigator’s declaration in support of an arrest warrant, the 18-year-old victim was staying at Ramirez’s house starting in June 2016 and planned to remain at the home until Aug. 8, when she planned to move away for college.
However, on Aug. 6, the victim said Ramirez came into her room in the early morning hours while she was asleep and laid down next to her. She said she “felt uncomfortable,” moved to another room and fell asleep on a couch, but woke again to Ramirez sexually assaulting her.
The declaration states that “she could not believe he was doing this because he has been such a positive role model for her and he is a police officer. She viewed him as a father figure.”
Following the assault, the victim said she fled to a friend’s home down the street and then went to Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, where she underwent a sexual assault examination. Sheriff’s deputies say Ramirez’s wife texted the victim, asking her to lie to police and to not undergo the sexual assault examination at the hospital.
The declaration also states that Ramirez’s wife washed the clothes that the victim was wearing during the alleged sexual assault. A second sheriff’s investigator’s declaration for an arrest warrant states that “family members have already attempted to dissuade the victim from moving forward with the case” and expressed concern for the victim’s safety, as Ramirez knew where she lived and deputies were unable to locate one of Ramirez’s firearms.
Ramirez is scheduled to return to court on February 1st. He remains out of custody on $85,000 bail.
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