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"Gunpoint Rape Cop" Says That "The Truth Will Come Out"
By
Garth Johnston
Published Aug 22, 2011
Modified Aug 22, 2011
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By
Garth Johnston
Published Aug 22, 2011
Modified Aug 22, 2011
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The 27-year-old police officer accused of raping a woman at gunpoint in Inwood early last Friday is worried that the Manhattan DA is going to try and "make an example" out of him over a misunderstanding. Three-year-veteran Michael Pena, currently at Rikers, told the Daily News in his first jailhouse interview that "The DA is arresting cops, indicting cops. They're trying to make an example out of me."
And he very possibly isn't totally wrong about the example thing. Cy Vance, the Manhattan DA, certainly does have a lot of good reasons to want to throw the book at a police officer who is accused of raping a person he swore to protect. And not just because rape is a terrible crime. Vance is still smarting from the way his last "rape cop" trail turned out, not to mention the rapidly disintegrating DSK case.
Pena is accused of drunkenly forcing a 25-year-old teacher he met on the street at 6:15 a.m. last Friday to have sex with him behind an apartment building. But he says that while it isn't that simple, his lawyer won't let him comment on the specifics: "There's a lot I want to say about this," he said. "Eventually, the truth will come out. Everything's not black and white. There are shades of gray."
Pena is being held on $1 million bond, and says that so far he is handling life in Rikers "all right." His family, meanwhile, is standing behind him. His father earlier this weekend told the media "My son is innocent. I believe that 100%. He's not the kind of person who would do that." And at least until Friday, the younger Pena agreed. "Everything was fine—perfect—before that day," he said from Rikers.
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