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An African government official serving at the United Nations evaded a potential rape charge in New York City by claiming diplomatic immunity despite the victim reporting the alleged brutal assault to police.
Charles Dickens Imene Oliha, a 46-year-old career diplomat for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in South Sudan, is accused of making a pass at a woman out walking a friend’s dog in upper Manhattan. When she rejected his advances, he allegedly then proceeded to follow the victim into her building and up to her apartment, forcing them inside and raping the woman twice before fleeing the scene, law enforcement sources told N.Y. Daily News.
The New York Post, also citing unnamed sources, also reported about the rape allegations against Oliha.
The victim said she was in shock and tried to sleep after the incident, reporting the alleged rape to police several hours later with some convincing from a friend.
International flags outside the United Nations headquarters in New York, U.S., on Monday, Sept. 20, 2021.
(Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The incident occurred inside the Wadsworth Terrace in Fort George, the same building where Oliha also resides, the Post reported.
Oliha was taken into custody on suspicion of rape but was released a short time later. While held for questioning, he reportedly told detectives from the NYPD’s Special Victims Unit that he was a diplomat, and once investigators confirmed his immunity, he was released without facing any formal charges for the alleged attack on one of his neighbors.
“We are aware of the incident referenced involving a diplomat accredited to the United Nations,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “We take these allegations seriously, and we are working closely with the New York Police Department and the Mayor’s Office of International Affairs, as we do in all legal and criminal cases involving foreign diplomats assigned to Permanent Missions and Observer Offices at the UN. We do not comment on the specifics of ongoing investigations.”
At noon Sunday, at “a location known to the Department in the confines of the 34th Precinct there is a report on file for rape,” an NYPD spokesperson told Fox News Digital, without responding to additional questions about Oliha’s release or whether he will face legal consequences. “A female victim known to the Department states when she arrived at the location a male suspect opened the front door to the building and then followed her up the steps and pushed his way into her apartment. The suspect then forced the victim to engage in sexual intercourse and fled the location. The investigation remains ongoing.”
Flags outside the United Nations headquarters on May 20, 2021, in New York City.
(ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
In a statement to Fox News Digital, New York City Mayor Eric Adams’s office said, “Sexual assault of any kind should never be tolerated.”
“There is an active investigation underway,” the spokesperson for City Hall added. “Depending on the results, we will take all appropriate actions.”
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Fox News Digital also reached out to the United Nations’ press office regarding the matter, asking if Oliha will face any discipline, possible deportation or if his diplomatic status would be revoked.
It’s not clear whether the alleged victim was afforded any protective measures after the alleged attack.
