$1.3 Million to Settle Police Rape Cases

The Los Angeles City Council agreed Wednesday to pay $1.3 million to settle the lawsuits of three women who were raped by an LAPD officer.

Former Officer Joseph Evan Robinson, 27, was convicted this year of raping the women while on duty. The former 77th Street Division patrol officer, who had been relieved of duty in April 2002, is serving three consecutive life terms.

“These are no-win situations,” Councilman Jack Weiss said. “On the one hand, it’s unfortunate that taxpayers have to see so much of their tax money going to these settlements. On the other hand, there has to be a just resolution when the facts are so egregious.”

In the first case, Robinson and his partner confronted a woman in January 2002 as she sat in a car with her boyfriend at 64th and Figueroa streets. Prosecutors said Robinson determined the woman had an outstanding warrant, then took her to an alley out of sight of his partner and her boyfriend, and raped her, according to a probation report.

Two weeks later, Robinson handcuffed and sexually assaulted a woman in a Figueroa Street motel room after allegedly finding marijuana in the room she shared with a boyfriend, according to a probation report.

A month later, Robinson forced a woman from a bus stop at 47th Street and Figueroa into his patrol car and drove her several blocks away, where he handcuffed and raped her, the report said.