By Steve Neavling
A former Homeland Security Investigations special agent was sentenced to life in prison for violating the civil rights of two women he was accused of sexually assaulting.
John Jacob Olivas, 48, of Riverside, Calif., tried to stop the women from telling police that he sexually assaulted them.
U.S. District Judge Jesus G. Bernal said Olivas had engaged in “systematic torture of women” and committed “senseless” crimes that forced his victims to “live with trauma for the rest of their lives,” according to a Justice Department news release.
In December 2022, Olives was found guilty of three counts of deprivation of rights under the color of law following an 11-day trial.
During the trial, the jury was told that Olivas tried to rape one woman in January 2012 after telling her that police would not investigate because he was “above a cop” and “untouchable” due to his position in federal law enforcement.
In September 2012 and November 2012, Olivas was accused of raping another woman. He told the woman he was “invincible” and pointed an HSI-issued gun at her back before sexually assaulting her in September 2012, the woman testified.
Both victims endured Olivas’s “violent, escalating, controlling, and intimidating behavior, which included his repeated brandishing of HSI credentials to [them] and asserting that he was above the law,” prosecutors wrote in court documents.
“Olivas is a sexual predator who willfully abused his power as a federal agent to torment his victims, causing them physical, emotional, and psychological pain,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said. “Those who abuse their power as public officials must be held accountable. We hope the sentence imposed in this civil rights case eases the victims’ anguish and reminds would-be offenders that there is a stiff penalty for law enforcement officials who violate their vow to enforce and uphold the law.”
Donald Alway, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, added, “John Jacob Olivas not only used the power of his position to commit horrific acts of violence and silence his victims, his actions while employed as a government agent served to undermine the efforts of honorable law enforcement officials. This significant sentence should not only deliver a measure of justice to his victims, but restore trust in government as we hold accountable individuals who use their position to violate civil rights.”
The FBI and ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility investigated the assaults
