A Riverside police officer with only 16 months on the force has resigned amid an investigation into allegations he sexually assaulted a woman following a traffic stop.
Henry Ventura, who began working for the Police Department in March 2024, resigned on July 17 as both an internal affairs investigation and a criminal probe were hanging over his head, said Riverside police officer and department spokesperson Ryan Railsback. He said Ventura had been assigned to patrol.
The alleged victim, a 25-year-old Riverside woman, filed a complaint with the Riverside Police Department in late May that triggered the investigations, Railsback said. She subsequently filed a federal lawsuit on Aug. 20 in U.S. District Court in Riverside against the city and Ventura, alleging he sexually assaulted her under the color of authority. The woman is identified in the lawsuit as Jane Doe.
Ventura, according to the lawsuit, pulled the woman over on May 9 and asked about her Utah license plate. She told Ventura she worked at an auto dealership and had just left an auction. He asked her for her name, age and email address, then let her go without a citation.
“Soon thereafter, plaintiff started receiving emails from Ventura. The emails included messages like, ‘Hey’ and ‘It was nice meeting you.’ He then asked her for her phone number,” according to the lawsuit. “Thinking it was related to professional or police-related matters, she gave it to him.”
Ventura, according to the lawsuit, then began calling the woman every day, including from a police phone line. Over the course of several days, Ventura called the woman about 30 times, according to the lawsuit.
Then, on May 14, Ventura showed up at the woman’s residence unannounced and in uniform. He called her and told her he was outside and wanted to see her apartment. She said, “I guess you can see my apartment,” according to the lawsuit. She told Ventura she lived with her 21-year-old autistic brother and 5-year-old son as she showed him around her apartment.
Darren Harris, a partner at the Irvine law firm Harris Grombchevsky LLP who is representing the woman in the lawsuit, said the woman’s brother was asleep in the living room and her son was in school. He said his client showed Ventura the kitchen, living room and bathroom, but her bedroom door was open, and Ventura walked in. She followed behind him, and Ventura shut the door, Harris said.
“That’s when he touched her and started kissing her,” Harris said.
According to the lawsuit, Ventura touched the woman’s vaginal area and tried to get her to touch his penis. She refused and did not consent to his actions, the lawsuit said.
Ventura showed up again at the woman’s home days later, again unannounced, and she refused to let him in, so he left. A few days later he showed up at the woman’s home a third time, only this time he was more aggressive. He telephoned her to let her know he was at her front door. When she refused to let him in, Ventura told her, “I’m a police officer and you need to obey me,” according to the lawsuit.
“When plaintiff opened the front door, Ventura pushed his way into her apartment, pushed plaintiff and forced her to her bedroom,” according to the lawsuit. Ventura grabbed the woman’s breasts, touched her vaginal area, then grabbed her shoulders and “forcibly pushed her head down,” forcing her to perform oral sex on him while she pleaded for him to stop, according to the lawsuit.
Ventura told the woman, “You need to listen to what I tell you,” “This is normal,” and “Stop acting like you’re scared,” the lawsuit said. “Plaintiff saw that he had a gun and she was scared the entire time.”
Asked why his client would have let Ventura into her home under such circumstances, Harris attributed it in part to fear and naivete, and she didn’t think much of it because her brother was there.
After consulting with her boyfriend and her friends, the woman reported the incident to the Riverside Police Department and underwent an examination by a Sexual Assault Response Team at Riverside University Health System Medical Center in Moreno Valley on May 23, Harris said.
“She has suffered and continues to suffer extreme emotional distress as a result of being assaulted and abused by a law enforcement officer placed in a position of authority by the city of Riverside,” Harris said in a statement. “Officer Ventura undoubtedly had access to thousands of women over the course of his employment. By reporting this to the proper authorities, my client may have saved other women.”
Railsback said the department has received no other complaints, including sexual assault complaints, against Ventura from any other women.
Ventura’s certification to work as a police officer has been temporarily suspended pending the administrative and criminal investigations, according to the state Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, or POST, the agency that certifies peace officers who meet minimum training, education and experience standards.
Railsback said Ventura began his training in the Riverside County Sheriff’s Basic Training Academy in July 2023 and he graduated in March 2024, when he was sworn in and began working as a full-time officer. He said he had no prior police experience.
He said the department is taking the allegations very seriously. “We are going to investigate this to the full extent,” Railsback said.
Harris said neither he nor his client are content with Ventura’s resignation. He said his client has been severely traumatized and has been undergoing therapy and counseling for her injuries.
“The matter should be referred to the District Attorney’s Office for criminal investigation and potential prosecution,” Harris said.
Reached by telephone on Wednesday, Ventura declined to comment.