DALLAS, TX — A now-former Dallas police officer has pleaded guilty only to a reduced charge of “aggravated assault” in order to have a charge of sexual assault dismissed by the court.
Oscar Araiza was reported for raping a woman while she was sleeping.
Officer Araiza said he felt the plea deal was “best for him.”
He was able to avoid a heavy prison sentence and will not have to register as a sex offender.
In fact he was given five years of deferred adjudication, which means he won’t be convicted of anything if he meets the conditions of his probation.
Investigators reported Officer Araiza for raping a friend of a woman who had already known.
Araiza was found with “fresh scratches to his neck and arms,” indicating a struggle, according to reports.
It happened when the woman’s friend was passed out on Officer Araiza’s couch.
The woman who already knew Officer Araiza trusted him and was not in the room at the time.
The friend stated that she was awakened with Araiza sexually assaulting her.
She said she struggled to “get away from him,” and was “yelling at which time Araiza covered her mouth to quiet her screams.”
She was finally able to escape from him and get out of his house. That’s when Officer Araiza began “downplaying his actions,” the statement says. He now claims the sexual activity was “consensual” and that the scratches were caused by the woman “assaulting” him.
The woman called 911 immediately and went to a hospital where she was tested with a rape kit.
Investigators noted that her arms were bruised and that she had redness on her mouth.
Officer Araiza is said to have cited the “climate in law enforcement right now” as part of his decision to take a plea deal and admit guilt. Evidently he believed that jurors would be swayed to find him guilty of sexual assault because of recent national anger at police.
