Two Los Angeles police charged with raping women while on duty

Two Los Angeles police officers have been arrested and charged with repeatedly raping four women while on duty over a three-year period, officials said Wednesday.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced several charges against James Nichols and Luis Valenzuela, including rape under color of authority and forced oral copulation. Valenzuela also is charged with pointing a gun at one of the women.

It was unclear whether the officers have attorneys.

Prosecutors said the rapes began in December 2008, after Nichols and Valenzuela became partners in the department's Hollywood Division. They said all four women allegedly assaulted had been arrested on drug-related charges at various times by the officers.

Police Chief Charlie Beck said in a statement that "any officer that abuses the public's trust is not welcome in the LAPD."

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said at a news conference Wednesday that both officers have been suspended without pay since 2013. Their employment status is pending an administrative hearing that would follow their criminal case, he said.

"These two officers have disgraced themselves, they disgraced this badge, they disgraced their oaths of office," Beck said. "It's a violation of public trust."

He said investigators are actively seeking other potential victims.

Prosecutors said the rapes began in December 2008 after Nichols and Valenzuela became partners in the department's Hollywood Division. They were working as narcotics investigators.

Prosecutors say all four women assaulted had been arrested on drug-related charges at various times by the officers, and court records show at least two had been recruited by the officers to work as drug informants.

Those women have filed civil rights lawsuits against the officers. The Los Angeles City Council settled one case last year after agreeing to pay one woman $575,000, while the other case is still being litigated.

A third lawsuit is expected to be filed.

Beck said the department's internal affairs bureau began investigating the officers after the first woman complained of being raped 2010. In 2014, the department's elite Robbery Homicide Division took over.

Asked why it took so long for the charges to filed against the officers, Beck said the investigation was complicated and involved reluctant witnesses who were difficult to find.

Dennis Chang, an attorney who represents two of the women in the case, said the officers took advantage of the women's positions and threatened them with jail time or outing them as informants.

"These women were drug users, they're primarily arrested and in custody, in an extremely vulnerable state," Chang said. "They were afraid."

The Associated Press