Night supervisor trapped, raped worker in exam room at California VA hospital, feds say
A former janitorial supervisor at a California veterans hospital was found guilty of sexually abusing an employee, according to federal prosecutors.
During a late night in July 2021, prosecutors said Onofre Salas-Lozano isolated a co-worker, who he directly supervised, in a patient exam room at the Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Hospital.
Salas-Lozano trapped her in the room and forcibly raped her, according to prosecutors.
“(She) suffered traumatic tissue injury during the assault,” prosecutors said.
Following a three-week trial, a federal jury convicted Salas-Lozano, 42, on Jan. 31 of aggravated sexual abuse, sexual abuse by fear, and making false statements to a federal agent, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California said in a Feb. 3 news release.
His legal counsel didn’t immediately return McClatchy News’ request for comment Feb. 4.
Salas-Lozano was supposed to appear in court on Feb. 3 to schedule his sentencing hearing, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, but he did not show up.
A bench warrant was issued for his arrest on Feb. 3, according to court records, which mentioned he was not yet in custody.
The investigation
Salas-Lozano worked for a janitorial services contractor that was in charge of cleaning the Palo Alto VA Medical Center, according to prosecutors. Palo Alto, in Silicon Valley, is about a 35-mile drive southeast from San Francisco.
After prosecutors said Salas-Lozano raped the employee on July 2, 2021, he later lied to a special agent with the VA Office of Inspector General who interviewed him about the sexual assault.
He told the agent he never had sexual intercourse with the woman, according to prosecutors.
However, Salas-Lozano’s sperm linked him to the crime, prosecutors said. It was located in her underwear during a DNA analysis.
At trial, Salas-Lozano contradicted his statement to the federal agent when he said he “had consensual sex with the victim at some other time,” according to prosecutors.
He also lied in the courtroom, saying he’d never made a false statement to investigators, prosecutors said.
Salas-Lozano is facing up to life in prison on both counts of aggravated sexual abuse and sexual abuse by fear, as well as up to eight years in prison on the count of making false statements, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“Salas-Lozano used his position as a supervisor to sexually assault a fellow employee,”U.S. Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey said in a statement. “Federal law enforcement will do all it can to secure justice for any victim of sexual assault.”
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