INS Officer Pleads Not Guilty in Rape, Kidnaping

A federal immigration officer pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges that he told a woman she was under arrest for being unable to show she was a U.S. citizen, and then took her to his Van Nuys home and raped her at gunpoint.

Prosecutors allege U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service officer James Edward Riley, 32, raped the woman April 11 after threatening to arrest her for not having proper identification.

Riley is charged with forcible rape with the use of a firearm, kidnaping and rape under the color of authority, said James Baker of the district attorney’s Van Nuys office.

Baker said Riley approached the woman on the street and identified himself as an INS officer. When the woman was unable to provide proof of citizenship, Riley, who was off-duty, “ostensibly placed her under arrest” and took her to his home, Baker said. Prosecutors claim Riley then raped the woman before releasing her.