PHOENIX — A woman who says she was assaulted by an on-duty Phoenix police officer is now suing the city and the officer, saying the department could have done more to prevent her alleged attack.
Former Officer Sean Pena was fired back in July and is now facing sex abuse charges.
Court records accuse the former officer of assaulting not just Krystofer Lee, the woman who filed the lawsuit, but two other victims saying he abused them on the job, too.
"It’s traumatizing," says Lee, who still struggles when she thinks back on a night in June 2019. "I don’t want to talk about that part."
Court records lay out disturbing details, accusing Pena of stopping Lee while out on patrol in south Phoenix, then sexually assaulting Lee in his patrol car.
"I was just taken advantage of," she says. "I seemed overpowered because it was a police officer. It made it seem like he was just going to get away with it."
When she finally got the courage to report him to the city in November 2019, she was stunned to learn she wasn’t the first to accuse him of assault.
"You’d never think a cop would do something like that," Lee says. "I just couldn’t believe it was a cop."
Court records show another woman reported Pena forced her have sex with her in his patrol car, while she was handcuffed, in custody.
That incident was reported in August 2018 nearly a year before Lee’s alleged attack. Court records show a third victim accused Pena of assault in August 2019.
Lee says she filed her lawsuit with support from her friends and family and community activists like Rev. Jarrett Maupin. She says she wishes more was done after the reported assault in 2018 that could have spared her from the trauma.
"Instead of suspending him, even with pay, just to keep an eye on him, they sent him back out on a solo-patrol alone," Maupin says.
Pena was placed on administrative duty after Lee reported him in November 2019 and fired in July 2020, after assault charges were filed against him in all three reported cases.
The Phoenix Police Department emailed the following statement after the lawsuit was filed:
The Phoenix Police Department demands the highest degree of integrity and professionalism from all members of the Department and takes all allegations of misconduct against employees seriously. The Department promptly investigated every sexual assault allegation received against Sean Pena. Pena was placed on administrative assignment prior to being terminated. In addition to his termination, there are criminal charges against Pena related to all three reported incidents.
Pena is facing seven felony charges, including sexual assault, sexual abuse and unlawful sexual conduct. Court records show he plead not guilty to the charges.
"I’m not saying every officer is a bad officer," Lee says.
"I’m just saying some, you let them slip. You should be a little more careful considering the people you’re putting out there to protect us."