Man Cleared in Assaults by Phony INS Agent : Investigation: Four victims who were shown a new photo of the suspect say he did not sexually attack them.

Christopher Aguayo was surprisingly good-natured Tuesday about the more than four days he spent in jail for assaults on women that he didn’t commit.

“It was a good experience,” Aguayo said in an interview in his San Gabriel apartment. “Being in jail for five days gave me time to think about what kind of person I am.”

Besides, he said, El Monte police treated him well.

On Tuesday, they treated him even better. They let Aguayo go, saying that although he bore a strong resemblance to the attacker, he is not a suspect.

Aguayo, a 22-year-old unemployed waiter, was suspected of posing as an immigration officer to gain entry to homes, then sexually assaulting 24 Spanish-speaking women. He was arrested Thursday night and held on $5-million bail before his release Tuesday morning.

Police believe that the real attacker is still at large. “I’m going to get this guy,” El Monte Police Detective John Fentress said. “But I’m going to get the right guy.”

The man is suspected of assaulting 21 women in El Monte, two in San Gabriel and one in Temple City between November, 1993, and Aug. 10.

A man who said he was an immigration officer gained entry to the women’s apartments, telling victims he needed to search them for weapons. He often fondled his victims’ breasts and genital areas and sometimes told them their families would be deported if they did not cooperate, police said.

On Aug. 9, the man sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl.

Aguayo was arrested after police received an anonymous call from a woman who said she suspected he was the impostor. Six victims picked Aguayo’s mug shot from a folder containing six black and white photographs of different men, police said.

But because Aguayo has no prior criminal record, the only photograph the police could get of Aguayo was a faxed copy of a 1993 DMV photograph.

While Aguayo was in jail, police took color photographs of him and went back to five of the six women and showed them the recent photos. Four of the five said Aguayo was not the man who assaulted them.

Police are looking for a white man or a light-complexioned Latino between 5 feet 10 inches and 6 feet tall and weighing 170 to 200 pounds. The impostor spoke little Spanish.

Aguayo said he had no hard feelings toward police.

“Maybe the guy out there looks exactly like me,” he said. “I’m a Gemini. I have a twin somewhere.”