Ex-Phoenix Police officer on trial facing sexual assault allegations

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Ex-Phoenix Police officer on trial facing sexual assault allegations

PHOENIX – The trial is now underway for an ex-Phoenix Police officer accused of sexually assaulting three women.

Wednesday, April 27, marked day one of the trial that’s expected to last weeks.

Sean Pena was fired in 2020 after the allegations came to light, and last year, the city settled with one of the alleged victims when the Phoenix City Council approved a $425,000 settlement with one of the alleged victims.

“Sean became a cop to help people something, he wanted to do for a long time. He didn’t become a cop to prey on women,” said his attorney, Jess Lorona.

According to court documents, the former police officer is accused of sexually assaulting the first alleged victim while she was handcuffed in the back of his patrol car in August 2018. The second alleged incident happened in June 2019 when another woman claimed Pena sexually abused her. Then, a third woman came forward alleging Pena sexually assaulted her in August 2019.

One of the alleged victims took the stand on April 27, saying she had initially called the police during a family dispute, and Pena responded to the call.

He took down the report and left, but later that night, when she was walking home from the store, she heard Pena call her name. She walked over to his squad car where she claims he grabbed her hand and placed it on him. She pulled away and left, but says Pena continued to call her that evening and told her to meet him in an empty lot in south Phoenix.

“I didn’t want to have any interaction with him at all. When I went to the field, I was scared because I didn’t, like, how can you call the cops on the cops?,” she said. “I didn’t want to die in a freaking field. I’m scared. What am I supposed to do?”

When she arrived, she says Pena sexually assaulted her in the back of his patrol car. She didn’t tell the police until the following summer, so her clothing was never taken as evidence.

Lorona says, “That the dress was never examined, it was never provided to the police, it was never examined at all from any DNA evidence at all, so what does that mean? It means there is no physical evidence at all, in this case, proving that Sean Pena did anything at all. There are no witnesses at all to this incident.”

Pena has denied the allegations.

Tune in to FOX 10 Phoenix for the latest news: Related reports: Police officers charged over alleged misconducts while on duty

The decision was announced June 24 by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.

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