LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a $6.15 million settlement to a woman who was raped by an on-duty sheriff’s deputy following a local traffic stop in 2010.
The board approved the settlement, among the largest it has paid, without comment.
The Sheriff’s Department will cover $2 million of the total and the balance is expected to be paid by an insurance carrier.
The perpetrator, Jose Rigoberto Sanchez, was sentenced in 2014 to nine years in prison after pleading no contest to the rape and a separate case of soliciting a bribe of sexual activity from another woman.
Sanchez was also ordered to register as a sex offender for life. [View an image of Jose Rigoberto Sanchez here.]
About 1:20 a.m. on Sept. 22, 2010, Sanchez, who was working out of the sheriff’s Palmdale station, pulled over a 24-year-old female driver to investigate a misdemeanor traffic warrant.
When she turned down his offer to have sex with him in exchange for not arresting her, he drove her into the desert and raped her, according to trial testimony.
His victim spoke out at sentencing, telling Sanchez, “You deserve far more prison time than nine years.”
Previous related stories:
Ex-deputy sentenced in rape case
AVSUX says
When the pigs (and the politicians they work for) aren’t scheming for ways to rape your bank account, they’re actually raping you.
Justice says
Just to add to my previous comment, I hope the county is able to seize the deputies retirement account, that he has through the county, to pay this scumbags court fines, and hopefully help pay for “OUR” hard earned tax dollars we pay, that are being paid out to the victim.
Tim Rogers says
If all payments were made from the general pension funds for cops, this crap would end in a very short time. Their money is protected, just like they are. Nice to see a little justice served. I stopped donating to anything involving cops. Reform will only come from within and only when enough pressure is applied. Money talks.
Tim Scott says
This is an accurate statement and a good suggestion.
Justice says
9 years is not enough. This individual was entrusted with the public’s safety and violated that trust in the worst way. Kudos to the sheriff’s dept for a good investigation and presenting all of the evidence which convicted one of their own. I also read another article that commented that the sheriff also found another female that was victimized by Sanchez a few days after the first sexual assault. Thank god there weren’t anymore. 9 years for a cop in jail is a long time, and he should be there longer, since he violated the oath he took to protect the citizens. Unfortunately he will most likely be placed in protective custody so other inmates do not assault or kill him due to his being a cop and rapist. The only good thing about this is Sanchez will be locked in a small 6×9 cell 23 hours a day, with one hour locked in a small area for exercise. If we are lucky, another inmate may get to him and kick his ass, a little justice will be served.
Mr Larry says
No outrage or nothing, big outrage over the Pillowcase rapist. Getting close to the holidays i guess the good people of Palmdale don’t want to disturb the holiday season……
Tim Scott says
Is there ANY reasonable connection to this story that explains why you would bring him up here? Or did you just see the word “raped” in the headline and figure that called for another dive into your pet issue even though it has nothing to do with this situation?
Tim Scott says
Cops get the best lawyers, and they make the best clients. They know how to work the system from every angle. They are familiar with committing perjury, since if they haven’t done it themselves they know full well that their brothers in blue do it to “make a case stick” when ‘necessary’ based on their self appointed status of knowing better than mere judges and juries.
So even in the most egregious cases it takes close to a decade to get justice. We should all count ourselves lucky that it was gotten at all.
CAP'N LANCASTER says
I’s surprised Ole Rex didn’t have his greedy lil paws in on this one. Whats sad is the lawyers git most of the money.
Lae says
probably because the incident was out of the Palmdale station and therefore doesn’t affect Lancaster, so he wants nothing to do with it.
Tim Scott says
You say that as if sticking his nose into lawsuits against neighboring communities was not Rex’s bread and butter.
CAP'N LANCASTER says
Exactadammundo Tim Scott. Ole Rex shore does enjoy takin taxpayer dollars from every durn city he can sink his money thirstin fangs into. He sues city’s he sues school districts why he’s even suin two VFW Posts right here’s in the Vally. He’s lower than whale poop an that there sets on the bottom of the ocean.
Just Saying says
Many of the comments in “Previous related stories” on this complained that there was no mug shot, so here is a link to a Huffington Post story that shows a video of him in court.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/05/jose-rigob
Just Saying says
Previous link redirected, try this one:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=8&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CDkQFjAHahUKEwiOtLSUiPfIAhUJ4WMKHXO4BXA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.com%2F2014%2F04%2F05%2Fjose-rigoberto-sanchez-sentenced_n_5096394.html&usg=AFQjCNEDvZ79QUpTa_rpAF-NeIDUATBLWw
Serg Hernandez says
Being a cop is hard enough these days. A policeman should be the last line of safety..but instead this scum dishonored the badge and his duty. Whatever he gets is far too little…
Marianne says
So you get 20 years for selling pot or pirated DVDs and 9 years for rape…what’s wrong with our system??
Philip says
Why did it take them four years to convict and five years to determine a payout? This poor young woman just lost the majority of her 20’s because some horny cop decided to abuse his authority. Nine years is not enough – and he should not be given protective status as a cop, since he disgraced the badge and his community.
I hope the young woman takes a long vacation and buys whatever her heart desires. Justice is not swift, but this wait time is a bit ridiculous.