Officer Carlos Peralta Charged with Rape

A New Orleans police officer was charged with rape Thursday by the Orleans Parish district attorney's office.

Carlos Peralta, 38, was charged with forcible rape in connection with an assault in March 2007. Peralta has worked for the New Orleans Police Department since 1996 and was assigned to the 4th District as a patrol officer at the time of the incident, according to Civil Service records.

This is the second time Peralta has been charged in connection with the incident. In December, the district attorney's office filed a bill of information charging Peralta with second-degree battery in the same assault, which Assistant District Attorney Robert White said was part of a plea deal that the woman had consented to. But last month, Peralta declined to plead guilty to the battery charge, prompting White to file the forcible rape charge, a far more serious charge that carries a sentence of up to 40 years.

White said the second-degree battery charge made sense only as part of a plea deal. "The elements of the crime would most closely match up with forcible rape," he said.

Also on Thursday, the DA's office charged a former New Orleans police officer, Joseph Lusk, with malfeasance; he is accused of tipping off a woman to drug surveillance activity.

In the rape case, Peralta was investigated by an internal police unit as well as the district attorney's office, White said.

Peralta's attorney, Robert Jenkins, has denied that Peralta ever intended to take a plea deal. He called the new charge an attempt by the district attorney's office to pressure his client to plead guilty and he reiterated his commitment to fight the case.

"We're ready to go," Jenkins said. "Mr. Peralta is innocent and we're going to prove it."

During a recent City Council hearing, New Orleans Police Superintendent Warren Riley was asked about the case, and said Peralta has been assigned to desk duty pending the outcome of the criminal case.

Peralta allegedly raped a woman at a party attended by several off-duty police officers, Riley said. The Police Department did not terminate Peralta because of "conflicting stories" in the initial police report, he said, adding that officers could not locate the alleged victim for some time.

"We are not going to terminate somebody when we have conflicting statements from witnesses," Riley said. "Until the case goes to trial, that person is not guilty."

The Metropolitan Crime Commission, a watchdog group, has been monitoring the case at the request of the woman, who has since moved out of state. Rafael Goyeneche, the commission's president, said the woman will cooperate with prosecutors.

Also on Thursday, Lusk, 46, was charged with malfeasance in office. He resigned from the Police Department in April, the day after a woman told officers that Lusk had warned her via a cell phone text message about drug surveillance in Algiers to help her avoid arrest when she bought drugs. Lusk was booked with malfeasance by the NOPD's Public Integrity Bureau the following week.

Lusk, who was a 4th District task force officer, denies the allegations, said Frank DeSalvo, his attorney. "I think Joe has a valid defense and we are going to pursue it," he said.