By TATYANA BELLAMY-WALKER
An ex-city official was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court Thursday and pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting a woman held in a city facility last May.
John Lugo, 34, a peace officer for the city’s Human Resource Administration, was arrested on Sept. 18 after he was accused of locking a 43-year-old woman in a security office and forcing to perform oral sex on him, prosecutors said.
Lugo was charged with a criminal sex act in the first degree, sexual abuse in the first degree and coercion in the second degree, court records show.
The city’s Human Resource Administration includes the Department of Social Services, which offers low-income New Yorkers subsidies such as SNAP Benefits or food stamps and public assistance.
In an interview with DNAInfo, who first reported the incident in May, a spokesperson said the office of Social Services was working with law enforcement on the alleged assault.
“We will continue cooperating fully with the authorities in this matter and have taken and will continue to take appropriate action on this case,” Lourdes Centeno, a spokesperson told DNAinfo.com in September.
The victim’s attorney said Lugo told the woman she was “attractive” before threatening to slam her with additional charges for alleged trespassing at the city facility and alleged criminal possession of an unidentified pill.
Shortly after the assault, the woman attempted to notify a female court officer about the incident, but she was told “to be quiet,” prosecutors said. According to court documents, the victim tested positive for the defendant’s semen.
“He tried to use his power as a supervisor to cover up what he had done,” the victim’s attorney said.
Lugo’s bail was set at $50,000 and he was released from jail after it was paid, according to prosecutor and jail records.
Lugo’s attorney declined to respond to direct requests for comment.
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