INS Agent Charged With More Assaults : Crime: Three Latinas say the officer, already accused in one attack, approached them while he was off-duty but driving an official car.

Five charges involving three additional victims were filed Friday against an Immigration and Naturalization Service agent who earlier this week was charged with abducting and raping an illegal immigrant after threatening to deport her.

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office charged James Edward Riley with one count of rape, two counts of kidnaping and one count each of false imprisonment and assault by a police officer.

The 32-year-old agent pleaded not guilty to the charges before Van Nuys Municipal Court Commissioner Rebecca Omens-Rochman on Friday. At the request of Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard F. Walmark, the commissioner ordered Riley held without bail pending a May 25 preliminary hearing.

Riley already faces one count each of kidnap, rape and rape under color of law, meaning he used his position as a federal agent to commit the crime, for allegedly attacking a 24-year-old Sepulveda woman on April 11. He pleaded not guilty to those charges on Tuesday.

Riley was arrested at 4:30 a.m. May 12 at his Reseda apartment after a monthlong investigation that began after the woman reported to police that he had abducted and raped her in his Reseda apartment. The woman said she was then released.

The new charges stem from assaults dating to September, police say. In each case, Riley allegedly approached a Latina on the street while he was off-duty but driving his federal car. Police said that Riley, who is bilingual, showed his INS badge and placed the woman under arrest after determining that she had no green card or legal status for being in the United States.

The first attack allegedly occurred on Sept. 15. Riley is accused of kidnaping a 31-year-old woman from a Pacoima street and raping her in his car, Walmark said. The link to Riley came to light as police went through reports looking for similar crimes, said James A. Baker, chief filing deputy in the Van Nuys branch of the district attorney’s office.

The other two victims were traced from clues found in Riley’s apartment, Baker said. The women were contacted by police and implicated Riley in the attacks.

The charges of false imprisonment and assault by a police officer stem from a Jan. 9 incident in which Riley allegedly grabbed a 19-year-old woman in Pacoima. The woman reported that Riley told her: “I want a date or you’ll be deported,” Baker said. The woman slapped the man’s face and fled, Baker said.

Another victim, a 20-year-old woman, told authorities that Riley grabbed her on a Van Nuys street corner in February, told her she was under arrest and handcuffed her. He drove her around in his car for several hours before releasing her without having assaulted her, Baker said. The incident resulted in a kidnaping charge against Riley.

During the attacks, Riley variously identified himself as an INS agent, a customs agent or an undercover police officer, Baker said.

Riley, an INS agent since November, 1987, was assigned to the INS Employee Sanctions Unit, which primarily audits records of companies to make sure they are not employing illegal aliens, police said.

It was “not within his job description to stop and question persons on the street,” Baker added.

Riley is on leave while federal authorities investigate him.

The investigation was prompted April 12 when the Sepulveda woman made a rape report several hours after she said the suspect had freed her. She has been the only victim to voluntarily come forward to authorities and at times during the investigation was reluctant to fully cooperate because of fear she would be deported.

Police on Friday described the latest charges as the result of only the “first wave” of the investigation. Detectives were looking for other victims and looking through property seized from Riley for clues to identifying possible victims.

“We have a lot of names and phone numbers to try to follow up on,” Lt. Dennis Dunn said.

Police expressed frustration in attempting to locate and deal with victims because it is believed that Riley preyed only on Latinas who were illegally in the country.

Police said that women who come forward will not be turned over to immigration authorities even if they are in this country illegally.

“Just because you are not a citizen doesn’t mean you can’t be a victim,” Detective Mel Arnold said. “We are not concerned with anybody’s resident status. We are only concerned with whether somebody has been a victim of this guy.”

Despite that pledge, detectives suspect that fear of authorities, including possible belief that the announcement is a trap, has kept some possible victims from contacting police.