HOUSTON (October 8, 2012)--Former Houston police officer Abraham Joseph, 29, who was convicted of raping a bar waitress he arrested, was sentenced to life in prison Monday.
On Thursday jurors convicted Joseph of two counts of aggravated sexual assault.
Prosecutors said Joseph used his authority to falsely detain and intimidate the victim.
Investigators said Joseph was in uniform and on duty in January 2011 when the waitress and a man were arrested outside a nightclub as she left work.
The woman told police that Joseph dropped the man off along a road then drove his patrol car to a secluded area where he raped her while she was handcuffed.
A lawyer for Joseph, however, maintained the sex was consensual.
Joseph was fired after he was indicted.
The victim and four other cantina waitresses testified Joseph detained them after work and raped them.
Evidence showed all were in the U.S. illegally and Joseph preyed on their deportation fears.
