West Sacramento to pay victims of rapist cop
A year after being convicted of rape of at least six women, former West Sacramento police officer Sergio Alvarez’s victims (at least four of them) are set to receive a total of $2.8 million. The money will originate from self-insurance pools that cover West Sacramento and other public entities in California.
POLICE OFFICER’S VICTIMS
Alvarez was accused of a string of abusive tactics including preying on drug addicts, prostitutes and other women. Alvarez is said to have thought that these victims would not report crimes he had committed against them. His method of deception was to perform bogus DUI stops. He also utilized computer warrant searches to locate and single out his victims. We have learned that he attacked these women in his patrol car or in dark alley ways between 2011 to 2013.
BRAVE VICTIM COMES FORWARD
One brave victim came forward and reported her violent assault to police in the Fall of 2012. Alvarez was indicted and arrested in 2013 after a year long investigation.
CONVICTION AND SENTENCING
Alvarez was convicted of 18 counts of forced oral copulation, kidnapping and rape in 2014. He was sentenced to a 205 year prison term.
MARRIED, FATHER OF THREE CHILDREN
Alvarez’s crimes destroyed the life of another woman–his wife. As well as the lives of three innocent children. His wife and the couple’s three children fled their home and drove across the country in an effort to escape him.
NOT A VERY BIG SETTLEMENT
The size of this settlement is small compared to cases against private entities. There are no punitive damages available from public entities. In this case, there was no evidence to suggest that West Sacramento Police Department knew of any problems or complaints involving Alvarez. West Sacramento Police Department maintains that they did not know Alvarez was a sexual predator. This crime was carried out by Alvarez himself using his position as a police officer to overpower his victims.
WEST SACRAMENTO POLICE DEPARTMENT SCANDAL
The department has had to deal with this very dark scandal for a long time now. The department looks forward to rebuilding the trust of the citizens of West Sacramento.
SURVIVORS OF THIS TRAGEDY
We hope and that the survivors of this tragedy will be able to put this behind them eventually and find new hope in their futures.
I’m Ed Smith, a West Sacramento Personal Injury Lawyer. I have over 30 years of experience handling personal injury cases in Yolo County andWest Sacramento.
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