Texas cop sexually assaulted women on duty, interfered with dashboard video, feds say
.jpg "The Department of Justice seal (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)")
A former police officer in Texas accused of sexually assaulting and kidnapping two women while on duty has been indicted on federal charges, prosecutors announced Monday.
Hector Aaron Ruiz, 25, who worked for the Arcola Police Department, was indicted Nov. 10 by a federal grand jury on two counts of “depriving two separate victims of their right to bodily integrity.”
“The charges allege he committed aggravated sexual abuse and kidnapping while serving in his official capacity as a law enforcement officer,” according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Texas.
Ruiz is no longer employed by the police department in Arcola, a town of about 2,500 southeast of Houston.
Ruiz is also facing state charges of sexual assault, according to the Houston Chronicle.
The federal and state cases revolve around accusations of sexual assaults of two woman, the first in August 2019 and the second in November 2019, the Chronicle reports.
In the state case, which is being prosecuted by the Fort Bend County district attorney, Ruiz faces charges of sexual assault and official oppression after investigators say he “threatened one of the female victims on Aug. 11, 2019, that she would be deported if she did not comply with his demand for oral sex, according to court records,” the Chronicle said. “Prosecutors said Ruiz then forced the woman on the bed and sexually assaulted her.”
In the second case, Ruiz told a woman he had pulled over in his patrol car to follow him to a secluded area where he “pressured her into oral sex,” prosecutors said, the Chronicle reported.
The federal case revolves around accusations of sexual assaults of two woman, the first in August 2019 and the second in November 2019, the Chronicle reports.
If convicted of federal charges of depriving two separate victims of their right to bodily integrity, Ruiz faces up to life in prison, according to the news release.
Ruiz also faces federal charges of “two counts of carrying and using a firearm in a crime of violence as well as falsifying dashboard camera and body microphone recordings with the intent to obstruct the federal investigation.,” the release said.
If convicted of the latter, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
Texas officials are seeking other possible victims and anyone with information is asked to contact the FBI at 713-693-5000.