Rape Cop Says He's Targeted By Angry DA

Cop accused of rape says he is being targeted because jury acquitted officers in high-profile case
The New York Daily News by Jennifer H. Cunningham - August 22, 2011

Officer Michael Pena is accused of pointing his department-issued 9-mm. at a 25-year-old Bronx school teacher while off duty Friday morning and raping her behind an Inwood apartment building. The cop arrested for raping a woman at gunpoint fears the Manhattan District Attorney will throw the book at him because a jury acquitted two other cops accused of rape earlier this year. "The DA is arresting cops, indicting cops," Michael Pena told the Daily News on Sunday from a glass-enclosed pen in the visiting room at Rikers Island. "They're trying to make an example out of me." Pena, who wore a gray jail jumpsuit and five o'clock shadow, would not directly address the charges against him, saying his lawyer told him not to comment on specifics of the case. "There's a lot I want to say about this," he said. "Eventually, the truth will come out." He added, "Everything's not black and white. There are shades of gray." Pena, 27, is accused of pointing his department-issued 9-mm. at a 25-year-old Bronx school teacher while off duty Friday morning and raping her behind an Inwood apartment building. He is being held on $1 million bond. Pena said his personal and professional career were "picture perfect" prior to the rape charge. The patrolman said he comes from a decent family, had never been in trouble before and dreamed of moving up the ranks of the NYPD. "Everything was fine - perfect - before that day," Pena said. He teared up when he spoke of how the allegations and media attention have embarrassed his family, his friends and co-workers. "It's unfortunate," he said. Pena said he'd been at Rikers since Saturday night. He said "I'm all right" when asked how he was coping in jail. He said he has not seen the newspaper or TV reports about the alleged assault. Pena said he told his lawyer everything, as well as representatives from Internal Affairs. The cop's father, Persios Pena, insisted his son had been framed. "The only thing I know is my son is innocent," he said through the door of his central Harlem apartment. "I know my son is a very wonderful man. The truth will come out. I know that 100%. He's not that kind of person." In May, NYPD officers Franklin Mata and Kenneth Moreno were acquitted of charges they raped a drunk woman in her East Village apartment, despite evidence they entered her apartment four times in one night. It was a black eye for new Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., who faces new embarrassment Monday when he may be forced to drop high-profile rape charges against former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn. jcunningham@nydailynews.com