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May 21, 2008 1:17 pm US/Pacific
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Former Maywood Officer Charged With Sexual Assault
LOS ANGELES
A former Maywood police officer was charged on Wednesday with sexually assaulting three women while he was on duty in 2006 and 2007, prosecutors said.
Ryan Allen West, 28, was arrested Wednesday at his Riverside County home by the District Attorney's Bureau of Investigation, according to Deputy District Attorney Margo Baxter.
West -- who was the Maywood Police Department's K-9 officer until March -- is charged with a dozen felony counts, including rape by threat to arrest or deport, sexual penetration by a foreign object, oral copulation under color of authority, assault by a public officer, burglary and sexual battery by restraint.
The alleged crimes occurred between September 2006 and May 2007 -- all while West was in uniform and on duty, according to Baxter.
In investigation was launched last year after one of the alleged victims went to a hospital and reported that she had been raped by an officer.
Two more alleged victims were discovered during the investigation, authorities said. West was jailed on more than $600,000 bail. It was not immediately clear when he would be arraigned.
If convicted as charged, he faces up to 24 1/2 years in state prison, according to the District Attorney's Office.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)