Carlos Torres, 46, was a state trooper before he was charged with sexual misconduct with women that he pulled over for aallegedly driving drunk. Now, one can say that he has officially gone over to the other side of the law - as a sex offender.
The [1st degree custodial sexual misconduct] charges stem from a complaint made by the woman, then 38, who said she was driving home to Federal Way in June 2005 when Torres pulled over her pickup truck, accused her of drunken driving and had her get into his patrol vehicle.
He sent home her two passengers -- the woman's boyfriend and teenage daughter -- and then, after taking her to a Fife police station for a breath test, drove the suspect to a deserted truck-weighing station along Interstate 5, making her partially undress before initiating sexual contact with her, according to court documents.
The woman's blood-alcohol level was well below the legal limit, authorities said.
Two other women accused Torres of using drunk driving arrests as an excuse to behave inappropriately with them, and the victim who Torres was convicted of abusing expressed relief at his conviction.
"She's relieved the trial's over and happy that the jury believed her," said a King County Prosecutor's Office spokesperson.
The trooper's attorney, Michael Schwartz, had argued that the woman made the whole thing up because she was worried about the consequences of a drunken-driving charge and wanted to sue for money.
He pointed out that FBI investigators had interviewed the woman several times but found insufficient evidence to proceed with federal charges. Torres, Schwartz said, was "shocked at the jury's verdict."
He was very disappointed and very sad," the attorney said. "He's just spending the time at home now with his family."
Torres faces a year in jail for the sexual misconduct charges. He was fired in January, and will be sentenced May 2. Torres plans to appeal the conviction.
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