By Kim Jannsen, Michael Lansu, and Rosemary Sobol
Chicago Sun-Times
Two Chicago Police officers charged with sexually assaulting a drunk young woman while on duty are guilty only of “an indiscretion” and “bad decisions,” defense attorneys say.
But Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez said the 22-year-old victim was so intoxicated that she was “unable to give knowing consent” to sex with officers Juan Vasquez and Paul Clavijo.
Speaking after prosecutors revealed that the victim had a blood-alcohol level of .38 - nearly five times the legal limit for driving a car in Illinois - during the alleged March 30 assault, and that Clavijo had allegedly attacked another woman previously, Alvarez said, “They victimized these women. They not only violated, but they essentially destroyed their oath of office.”
Earlier Thursday, Judge Maria Kuriakos-Ciesil set bail at $500,000 each. As of Thursday evening, Vasquez had posted bond but Clavijo remained behind bars.
The officers were on duty and in uniform when they offered the victim a ride home to Rogers Park from Wrigleyville near Sheffield and Addison at 2 a.m. on March 30, Assistant Cook County States Attorney Patty Sudendorf told the judge.
The woman, who had been drinking at a friend’s home, attempted to enter the back seat of the marked squad car, but Clavijo ushered her onto his lap in the front seat, where he sexually assaulted her while Vasquez went into a liquor store, Sudendorf added.
The victim “believed she could not say no to Clavijo’s sexual advances and had to do whatever the police officer asked,” Sudendorf said.
At the victim’s home in the 1300 block of West Greenleaf, she drank and played strip poker with them, prosecutors said. The officers then sexually assaulted her, leading her to pound on the walls and scream, prosecutors alleged. Police found the victim in a “hysterical” state and recovered part of Vasquez’s uniform and cell phone from the room, Sudendorf said.
Clavijo also is accused of a March 10 crime in which he and Vasquez allegedly picked up a 26-year-old woman at a bus stop near Clark and Sheffield. They drove her home and asked to use her restroom, prosecutors said. Inside, when Vasquez went to the bathroom, Clavijo allegedly followed the woman into her bedroom and “pushed her onto the bed, pulled down her pants and performed a sex act on her,” prosecutors said. The woman objected, and the officers left - but she did not immediately report the crime because she was intimidated, prosecutors said. Vasquez does not face charges in the incident.
Speaking outside court, Clavijo’s attorney, Jed Stone, said that Clavijo is a highly regarded officer with 10 years of experience. “Paul Clavijo is not a rapist,” he said of the father of a 20-year-old daughter. He said that while he could not address the March 10 allegations, he called the March 30 incident an “indiscretion’’ which might cost Clavijo his job but was not a crime. Asked whether a woman that drunk could consent, he said: “If someone has a blood alcohol of .38, can she play strip poker?”
Vasquez’s attorney, Dan Herbert, said “this is not a criminal incident. Were there some bad decisions made? Absolutely.” In court, he denied Vasquez was present during the March 10 incident.
Acting Police Supt. Terry Hillard said Thursday the officers would be placed back on administrative duties once they make bail, but said they still face internal police sanctions.
“This is a sad day ... because of the unimaginable damage that’s been done to two individuals, multiple families and the community,” he said.
Clavijo, who state records indicate has the license plate “ALL BLUE,” and Vasquez, traveled miles outside the district in which they worked to visit the victim’s home on the night of the attack, but could not be traced at the time because a GPS tracking device on their squad car was not functioning, law enforcement sources said. As a result, the department is conducting a review of the system, the sources said.
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