Albany Police, lawmakers face cover-up speculations in illegal immigrant's rape case

Police and Democratic lawmakers in Albany are being accused, without evidence, of covering up the rape of a teenager in Albany, suggesting the news of the arrest was kept under wraps after learning the suspect is an illegal immigrant.

According to court paperwork, 21-year-old Sakir Akkan is accused of attacking and raping a teenage girl in the backseat of his Toyota Prius while armed with a metal pipe.

He was arraigned in Albany City court on a Rape charge, pleaded not guilty and was sent to the Albany County Correctional Facility.

According to an initial report from the Times Union, Akkan is an Turkish asylum seeker who crossed the southern border this year.

Following that report Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin took to social media, calling the situation a "cover up".

Albany County Legislator Frank Mauriello released a statement, stating that authorities are trying to hide crimes like this and the consequences of open border policies.

According to Chief Hawkins, calls reports of the police department's involvement in the investigation and arrest "grossly mischaracterized" and that the suspect's immigration status was not known until after Akkan's arraignment.

Albany Police Chief Eric Hawkins shut down the speculative accusations, making it clear that the suspect's immigration status was not know until after his arraignment and that the reports "grossly mischaracterized" the Albany Police Department's involvement in the case.

He adds that it is common practice by the department not to release media releases on sexual assault cases to "prevent further trauma to the victim."

Data provided by Albany Police show there have been 45 incidents of rape in the city so far this year-- well above the number of media releases CBS 6 has received from the department on sexual assault related cases.

However, Karen Ziegler, the Director of Albany County Crime Victim & Sexual Violence Center, says releasing information on such cases can be helpful to both the victims and community..."In general, I think the victim advocacy world believes it is often helpful when the police do release information for a number of reasons. One is that it makes everyone aware in the community that sexual violence is something that happens and they do need to be vigilant. It speaks to the fact that we do have work to do in the community to protect all of our residents against sexual assault. It let's the victims know they are believed and other victims know that they will be believed if they do come forward," said Ziegler.

Chief Hawkins' full statement reads,

“It has come to my attention that inaccurate and misleading information has been released regarding the recent arrest of an individual accused of sexual assault involving a minor that occurred on Tuesday, May 14, 2024. These reports have grossly mischaracterized the Albany Police Department's involvement in this case.

To be perfectly clear, neither I nor anyone else in police administration had any idea whatsoever the immigration status of the defendant in this case until after he was arrested and arraigned on the charges. Immigration status was simply not a factor in the media release decision and any insinuation to the contrary is completely inaccurate.

We want to assure the community that immediately after this incident was reported, an assessment was conducted and it was determined that there was no imminent threat to the public. The common practice by the Albany Police Department is that information regarding sexual assaults are not released through a media release to prevent further trauma to the victim, unless there are other extenuating circumstances, such as if the situation poses an imminent threat to the public. Albany Police Department determined there was not.”

https://cbs6albany.com/news/local/police-accused-of-cover-up-in-undocumented-immigrants-rape-case-in-albany-sakir-akkan