Phoenix Police Department fires officer facing charges

The Phoenix Police Department fired an officer who prosecutors recently charged with three felonies after one woman claimed he raped her and another claimed he required her to perform sexual acts, both times while he was on duty.

In a statement, a police spokesperson said former officer Sean Pena was fired from his job on Wednesday.

“The process of ending Pena’s employment with the City of Phoenix was finalized,” Sgt. Ann Justus said.

A three-count indictment accuses Sean Pena, 24, of having sex with one woman without her consent in August 2018 while she was in police custody. The indictment also accuses Pena of sexually assaulting a different woman who he was tasked to do a welfare check on in June 2019.

In June, prosecutors filed one charge of sexual assault and two charges of unlawful sexual conduct. If found guilty on all three charges, he could face at least five years and a maximum of 19 years in prison.

Pena made his first court appearance on July 17. He pleaded not guilty through his lawyer, Jess Lorona.

A probable-cause statement says that in the 2018 case, a woman reported to Phoenix police that Pena arrested her at a park in connection to an outstanding warrant in Yavapai County.

The woman told police that Pena forced her to have sex while she was handcuffed in the back of his patrol vehicle, the statement says. A rape kit was performed but Pena’s DNA was not found on the swabs, the statement says.

Surveillance video footage near where the assault occurred could not corroborate or refute the woman’s allegations, the statement says.

In the 2019 case, a woman reported to police Pena forced her to masturbate him and touched her breast while they were alone, according to the statement. Pena had come into contact with the woman after someone called for a welfare check on her for wandering a street, the statement says.