BY ALAN PITTMAN
ALAN PITTMAN
Deputy DA Kent Mortimer and
EPD Capt. Steve Swanson
42 Out of 45
EPD will investigate itself on what
it did wrong with Magaña.
F
ormer Eugene Police Officer Roger
Magaña was convicted last week on
charges of rape, sexual abuse,
sodomy, kidnap, coercion and/or harassment
in incidents involving a dozen women.
Magaña could face the rest of his life in jail at
sentencing scheduled for July 13.
The jury found Magaña guilty on 42 of 45
counts against him. For five of those convic-
tions, the jury found Magaña guilty of a lesser
charge than the prosecutor asked for.
charged Magaña with abuse, but the police
and district attorney decided against pursuing
charges in those cases, according to trial testi-
mony.
Magaña is the second EPD officer con-
victed this year of sex crimes. Earlier, Juan
Lara plea bargained five years in prison for an
apparently smaller sex crime spree while an
officer. The two cases have left many wonder-
ing whether other officers in the department
were complicit in the crimes and/or negligent
‘We certainly bear some responsibility.
The only question is how much.’
– Police Chief Robert Lehner
The convictions include one rape, 10
charges of sexual abuse, five charges of forced
sodomy, four kidnappings, seven charges of
coercion, three harassment charges, one bur-
glary and 10 charges of official misconduct.
Here’s what the jury convicted Magaña of:
• Forcing oral sex from a drunk 19-year-
old woman he picked up at a softball team
party by threatening her with arrest and then
later raping her in her home.
• Forcing oral sex three times, sexual grop-
ing four times and kidnapping once from a
then heroin addict by coercing her with threats
of arrest and by pointing a gun at her.
• Threatening a 31-year-old mother of
three with arrest for drunk driving to coerce
touching her breasts and vagina.
• Entering a 51-year-old woman’s apart-
ment to sexually harass and touch her.
• Kidnapping and attempting to force oral sex
from a prostitute by threatening to arrest her.
• Forcing oral sex from a then heroin addict
by kidnapping her and threatening her with ar-
rest.
• Forcing oral sex from a woman by threat-
ening her with arrest after the domestic vio-
lence victim had called police for help.
• Coercing sexual conduct from another
domestic violence victim by threatening to
have her children taken away.
• Harassing a woman by kissing her on the
mouth without her consent.
• Sexually abusing a drunk college student
by having intercourse with her without her
consent.
• Sexually abusing a 17-year-old police
cadet by forcibly rubbing his body and crotch
against her.
• Failing to arrest a woman with a warrant
who he was having oral sex with.
A dozen or more additional women also
10 JULY 8, 2004
in hiring, training or supervising the two offi-
cers.
Despite the Magaña verdict, Deputy
District Attorney Kent Mortimore said he’s
“proud” of the EPD. “They’re good people.”
In past cases of officer misconduct, the district
attorney has referred cases to prosecutors from
other counties to avoid conflicts of interest.
Local prosecutors depend on police to do their
job and work closely with them. But in the
Magaña and Lara cases, Mortimore said there
was no conflict of interest.
At a press conference, EPD Capt. Steve
Swenson declared that Magaña and Lara’s
misconduct was “an anomaly” in the depart-
ment. But asked how he knew there were no
other officers involved, Swenson acknowl-
edged that the department will have to look
into it.
EPD’s new Chief Robert Lehner said no
other officers have been disciplined for failing
to respond to repeated complaints about
Magaña and Lara or failing to properly super-
vise them. Lehner announced that his depart-
ment will soon begin an internal review to find
out what went wrong and if policies need to be
changed or anyone disciplined. But that re-
view could take a year or more, according to
Lehner.
In the meantime multi-million-dollar law-
suits against the city by many of the women
victims of the two former officers are moving
forward.
“We certainly bear some responsibility,”
Lehner said. “The only question is how
much.”
Asked if the EPD owes the women its offi-
cers sexually abused an apology, Lehner
replied, “I don’t know.” But then added, “as a
police officer and as a professional, yes, we do
owe them an apology.”
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