A West Sacramento police officer accused of sexually assaulting six women faces 35 felony counts of rape, kidnapping, forced sodomy and forced oral copulation, according to a 15-page indictment made public Tuesday.
Sergio Alvarez was on uniformed patrol during the alleged crimes and threatened to arrest and jail the women if they didn’t comply with his demands, according to the previously sealed indictment handed down Sunday by the Yolo County grand jury.
Several of the charges carry enhancements alleging that the assaults occurred in the course of a residential burglary, an indication he may have entered an alleged victim’s home with the intent of committing a crime.
Alvarez, 37, remains in Yolo County Jail custody in lieu of $26.3 million bail and was scheduled to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. today in Yolo Superior Court Commissioner Janene Beronio’s courtroom.
West Sacramento police officials announced Alvarez’s arrest on Monday, five months after receiving a tip that led to a joint investigation with the Sacramento Police Department.
All six of the alleged victims, whose ages range from 20 to 47, testified during the grand jury proceedings, according to the indictment. It says the crimes occurred between Oct. 1, 2011, and Sept. 23, 2012, a day before West Sacramento police became aware of the allegations.
Two of them reported being assaulted two or more times, the indictment says.
West Sacramento police Lt. Tod Sockman said the women “frequented the West Capitol Avenue area” — a section of West Sacramento historically associated with prostitution activity — though the kidnapping charges indicate the women allegedly were taken elsewhere before being assaulted.
Alvarez, a West Sacramento resident who has worked for the department since 2007, was placed on leave during the investigation, and the department has since served him with termination papers, Sockman said.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene
