NEW YORK (AP) — An asylum seeker was sexually assaulted by an armed guard at a federal building in New York City where the FBI maintains its offices, according to an indictment unsealed Monday.
Jimmy Solano-Arias, 42, of the Bronx, was charged in Manhattan federal court with disenfranchisement under the guise of law involving kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault. The charge carries a potential penalty of a maximum sentence of life in prison. He lost his job after his arrest on May 5, one day after the attack allegedly occurred. He is free on bail.
According to a criminal complaint signed by an FBI agent, Solano-Arias admitted in a videotaped interview with federal agents that the asylum seeker engaged in oral sex but claimed it was consensual.
Michael J. Driscoll, the FBI’s New York office chief, said in a statement that the asylum seeker had gone to 26 Federal Plaza in lower Manhattan on May 4 to file an asylum application.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said Solano-Arias, who worked for a company that provides armed security for the building through contracts with the Federal Protective Service, was tasked with keeping federal employees and visitors to the building safe.
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Instead, he “used his uniform and firearm to force a vulnerable asylum seeker to perform oral sex on him,” Williams said.
According to charging documents, Solano-Arias saw the victim in a line and offered to help him with the paperwork.
She eventually led the man to a locked office on the second floor of the building where she put her hand on her holstered firearm and demanded that the man give her oral sex, according to a criminal complaint.
Although he initially resisted, the man complied because he saw Solano-Arias’ hand on his firearm and feared for his life, the complaint says.
Solano-Arias then told the victim to wait in the office until the hallway was clear, and the man managed to record a short video on his cellphone of Solano-Arias, according to the complaint.
The victim immediately reported the sexual assault to authorities, identified Solano-Arias in a series of six-image photos, and provided enough information for federal agents to confront Solano-Arias when she arrived the next day, according to the complaint.
An attorney for Solano-Arias did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
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