NEW YORK — A South Sudan government official dodged a potential rape charge because he has full diplomatic immunity, the New York Daily News has learned.
The alleged victim reported to the NYPD at 11 p.m. Sunday that a man opened her building’s front door and followed her into her Upper Manhattan apartment about noon that day and raped her twice, police sources said.
She had been out walking her neighbor’s dog when a man said he wanted to come to her apartment.
The woman told him she had no interest but he followed her into her home and raped her, she told police, sources said.
She reported the attack a few hours later after a friend persuaded her to do so, sources said.
The woman was taken to NewYork-Presbyterian Columbia University Medical Center in Washington Heights, near where she lives, to be evaluated.
The 46-year-old diplomat, Charles Oliha, was later taken into custody by police but he invoked his diplomatic status, which the NYPD’s Intelligence Bureau confirmed was valid, sources said.
After a discussion with police lawyers, the diplomat, who is assigned to his country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was released about 5 a.m. Monday.
A representative for the South Sudan Consulate in Manhattan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
It was not immediately clear what legal steps the city might consider taking.
“This remains an ongoing investigation,” said Deputy Commissioner Julian Phillips, the NYPD’s top spokesman.
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