Two officers left an Oregon city reeling
20 women were assaulted, chosen because they wouldn't easily be believed. The city has paid millions.
Roger Magaña was a serial rapist with a badge.
On duty and in uniform, he attacked 13 women, some repeatedly. It went on for six years.
After he was caught, the police department in Eugene, Ore., discovered a second predator in the ranks: Officer Juan Lara, who assaulted seven women.
The city had plenty of chances to stop them. More than a dozen warnings - including reports of rape, sodomy and forced oral sex - went unheeded, according to lawsuits later filed by victims. Some were ignored, others met with skepticism.
That failure cost the city millions. In June, Eugene officials announced they had spent $5 million to settle claims filed by 14 women who were assaulted by the officers.
Police finally captured Magaña in 2003 after one victim complained repeatedly until the department took her seriously, her lawyer said.
"They were just atrocious to her," said lawyer Greg Veralrud, recounting the grilling that the woman got when she reported an attack: " 'Does she drink? Do you know he's married? This could be hard on him.' "
Finally, investigators discovered the truth: From 1997 to 2003, Magaña preyed on women with drug and alcohol problems. He attacked them in dark alleys, public bathrooms and his patrol car, silencing them with the threat of arrest. One said he pointed a gun and said he would shoot her if she ever told.
Convicted of rape, kidnapping and other crimes, Magaña was sentenced in 2004 to a prison term of 94 years.
Lara's abuse surfaced after a man wrote prosecutors in June 2003, claiming that Lara framed him because Lara was interested in his girlfriend. Lara, who was convicted of official misconduct and coercion, got five years.
Police Chief Robert Lehner, who took over after the scandals, said Magaña and Lara were cunning in choosing victims, and the women who complained - some drunk or high - were "almost impossible to believe."
Still, he said, the complaints should have been taken more seriously: "Maybe if they'd been handled differently, we could have found this sooner."
The arrests left the city reeling and spurred changes. City Manager Dennis M. Taylor called it "a mortifying experience."
"People were outraged," he said. "They felt like the deplorable, criminal acts of these two officers took something away from all of us."
In an extraordinary burst of candor, the city released thousands of pages of documents detailing how it handled the allegations. Voters created a civilian board to review complaints against police. The department added internal investigators and tightened hiring procedures.
Even so, no one has been disciplined for overlooking the reports about Magaña and Lara, though that is under review.
Mistakes were made, Lehner said, but he's not sure that means anyone should be punished: "Do I go back and end [someone's] career because of it?"