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Emanuel Rivera, 37, was a Vernon Township police officer when he met the woman while responding to a May 11, 2019 domestic violence call at her then-boyfriend’s home, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck said.
She told him and other responding officers that she intended to spend the night at a friend’s house but then opted to sleep in her car near there when she couldn’t reach that person, Bruck said.
Rivera, who was still on duty, approached her shortly after she parked, the attorney general said.
He “made inappropriate sexual remarks to the woman and groped her,” then directed the victim to follow his patrol vehicle, Bruck said.
The woman, who later filed a lawsuit, said Rivera reached down her shirt and groped her chest.
He led her to an abandoned church in Vernon, parked behind it, had her get out, then forced his hand into her pants and grabbed her again, she alleged.
Bruck said Rivera then returned to work.
LAWSUIT: Sussex County Police Officer Groped, Assaulted Woman After Domestic Violence Call
Detectives from the Sussex County Prosecutor’s Office said they charged Rivera following interviews and reviews of GPS devices.
They then investigated reports from two other women of unwanted advances after Rivera got their phone numbers “through his position a police officer,” Bruck said.
Rivera, who’s been with the department since 2013 after six years as a Paterson police officer, made headlines in May 2019 after he shot and killed a 3-year-old pet Labrador retriever who charged at him in the Scenic Lakes community in Vernon. He was later cleared of an wrongdoing.
He initially was suspended with pay for nearly three months following the alleged sex crime before the township began withholding his salary until the case is settled.
SEE: NJ Police Officer Who Shot Loose Dog Accused Of Sex Crime Against Domestic Assault Victim
Things accelerated on Tuesday, when a grand jury in Trenton returned an indictment charging Rivera with attempted sexual assault, criminal sexual contact and two official misconduct counts following an investigation by Bruck’s Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) and the prosecutor’s office.
“We expect New Jersey’s police officers to maintain the highest standards of honesty and integrity,” the attorney general said. “Officers who abuse the public’s trust can and must be held accountable.”
Deputy Attorney General Eric C. Cohen of the OPIA Corruption Bureau is prosecuting the case jointly with First Assistant Sussex County Prosecutor Gregory Mueller.
Rivera reportedly was offered but rejected a pre-indictment plea deal.
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