Two LAPD Cops Allegedly Raped Female Informants, Sex Workers Over Several Years

Two LAPD officers, Luis Valenzuela and James Nichols, are under
investigation for reportedly
using the threat of arrest to rape at least four women over the
course of several years. Two of the women reported working for the
officers as confidential informants, while one says she was
detained for prostitution and another was allegedly stopped while
she was simply out walking.

In a
search warrant affidavit released yesterday, an LAPD Internal
Affairs officer outlined the allegations against the officers.

According to the affidavit, the department was first made aware
of the officers’ alleged behavior in January 2010 when a woman who

worked as an informant for Valenzuela and Nichols reported
being detained by the plain clothes officers while she was out
walking; she was then forced to perform sex acts on one of the men.
The investigation was eventually dropped. 

A year later, another woman filed a complaint with LAPD
supervisors, alleging that Valenzuela raped her under almost
identical circumstances. While she was walking down the street in
Hollywood, Valenzuela ordered her into his undercover police
vehicle or be arrested. Once inside, Valenzuela allegedly told her,
“If you don’t suck my dick, you’re going to jail.” He then “grabbed
her by the back of her head and forced her to perform oral
copulation on him,” while Nichols sat in the front seat.

A sex worker also came forward, following an anonymous complaint
filed with the department that “unknown LAPD officers were
exchanging sexual favors from prostitutes in lieu of arrest.” The
woman claimed that Nichols raped her twice. Both times he detained
and handcuffed her, drove to a secluded area, and pulled out his
erect penis. At one point, Nichols allegedly asked the woman, “You
don’t want to go to jail today, do you?”

Additionally, a second confidential informant who worked with
Valenzuela and Nichols for over a year claimed that the men
insisted on using sex as a bargaining tool as she worked off her
arrest.

According to the
LA Times:

Sources familiar with the case…said police officials determined
from the investigation that there was enough evidence of misconduct
to have Nichols and Valenzuela fired.

Under city rules, the chief of police does not have the
authority to fire an officer outright. Instead, Chief Charlie Beck
ordered discipline hearing panels that will decide if the officers
are guilty of the allegations and, if so, whether they should be
fired or given a lesser punishment.

Valenzuela, a 16-year department veteran, and Nichols, who has
been an officer for nearly 13 years, were suspended with pay during
the investigation. They are no longer being paid as they await the
disciplinary hearing.

As the officers prepare for the hearing, Nichols’ attorney

claimed the women “have no credibility.”