RIVERSIDE, California (AP) — A former U.S. Homeland Security special agent who sexually assaulted two women, telling them he was “”above the law,” was found guilty Wednesday of violating their civil rights, federal prosecutors said.
John Jacob Olivas, 48, of Riverside, was convicted of three counts of deprivation of rights under color of law. He could face up to life in prison when he is sentenced in March.
Olivas attacked both women in 2012, prosecutors said.
One victim testified that Olivas tried to rape her “after making it clear to her that the police would not be responsive to any report she would make about Olivas because he was ‘above a cop,’ and ‘untouchable’ and ‘invisible’ to police” because of his federal position, the due to his position as a federal agent, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney general’s office.
The woman also said Olivas told her that he could make her “disappear,” have her arrested on fake charges or have her children taken from her, the statement said.
Olivas also raped another woman on two separate occasions. She testified that Olivas made comments that led her to believe he couldn’t be touched by the criminal justice system, and before the first rape threatened her with his service gun, authorities said.
Olivas showed his Homeland Security credentials to both victims and asserted “that he was above the law,” prosecutors wrote in court documents.
