A New Mexico police officer and a former security officer are behind bars after sexually assaulting a woman on Christmas Eve, authorities said.
Cook County sheriff’s officer charged with attempted sexual assault
A New Mexico police officer and
a former security officer are behind bars after sexually assaulting a woman on
Christmas Eve, authorities said.
Milan Police officer James
Watters, 25, and former court security officer Jessie Terrazas, 28, were
arrested after plying a 20-year-old woman with alcohol and forcing her to
perform sex acts, police said.
The two men and Grants Police
sergeant Jessie Nieto picked up the woman and drove to Grants High School to
drink alcohol Thursday, police said.
The men badgered the victim to
perform oral sex or have a threesome or foursome after exchanging sexual texts,
police said. The girl said no.
When she mentioned rape, Nieto
asked to be taken home and got dropped off, according to KOAT.
Watters and Terrazas took the
victim to New Mexico State University Grants Campus and gave her alcohol, she
told police.
Terrazas forced her to touch
him sexually and Watters pulled her hair and made her perform oral sex on him,
she told police.
Terrazas told police it was
consensual, according to KRQE.
Watters worked for the Milan
Police Department for about five months. Watters worked for the Milan Police
Department for about five months.Watters' mother, Angela Hendrick, is
distressed by the charges. James Watters and Jessie Terrazas drove the woman to
Grants High School to drink, police said. James Watters and Jessie Terrazaz
have been accused of getting an underaged woman drunk and forcing her to
perform oral sex on Christmas Eve.
“This isn’t James,” his mother,
Angela Hedrick, said. “A part of me wants to have so much faith in James, but
then something happened because why would he be in there?”
Watters was charged with
second-degree criminal penetration and providing alcohol to minors.
Terrazas was charged with
fourth-degree criminal sexual contact and providing alcohol to minors.
Watters is on paid leave from
the Milan Police Department, where he has worked for about five months, his
mother said. The father of three small children worked as a firefighter for
four years.
Terrazas was fired from his job
with the Cibola County Sheriff's Department because of a domestic violence
incident, the department said.
Terrazas' bond was set at
$50,000 and Watters' was set at $100,000 Friday.
Cook County sheriff’s officer
charged with attempted sexual assault
A Cook County sheriff’s officer
who was in bond court Thursday is facing a charge of attempted sexual assault,
authorities said.
Fernando Rodriguez, 52, was
charged with attempted aggravated criminal sexual assault; aggravated unlawful
restraint; and official misconduct — all felony counts, Chicago Police said.
Rodriguez was arrested after he
allegedly persuaded a 37-year-old woman to enter his vehicle about 1 a.m. Dec.
31 in the 1500 block of North Avers, police said. When she tried to leave, he
stopped her and attempted to sexually assault her while armed with a handgun,
police said.
According to a police report,
Chicago Police officers questioned Rodriguez when they spotted an orange Dodge
Charger double parked at that location, but he responded to them by showing his
Cook County sheriff’s office badge and saying, “It’s ok guys, I’m on the job.”
A woman, who is a “known
prostitute,” then exited the Charger’s passenger seat and told the officers
that Rodriguez had invited the woman to get into his car, showed her his
holstered handgun and implied a sexual act, the police report said.
The police report states that
Rodriguez told the woman, “Take care of me the right way and I’ll let you
walk.” When officers arrived, Rodriguez “grabbed her left arm and stated: ‘Be
cool.’”
Rodriguez was a deputy sheriff
in the Civil Process unit and was not on duty at the time of the incident, said
Sophia Ansari, spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office. He has been de-deputized,
and the sheriff’s office has launched a disciplinary investigation, Ansari
said.
Rodriguez, who lives in River
Grove, was given an I-bond and released on his own recognizance Thursday,
Ansari said. He is expected to appear in court again Friday.