Simi Officer Denies Guilt in Rape Case : Courts: Paul Anthony Nolan is accused of assaulting a health care worker in her home three years ago.

A Simi Valley police officer on Friday pleaded not guilty to a charge that he raped a woman while he was off duty three years ago after she turned down his request for a date.

The Ventura County district attorney’s office filed a single charge against Paul Anthony Nolan, accusing him of raping a 33-year-old Simi Valley health care worker at her residence in June, 1989.

Nolan, 31, met the woman a month before the alleged rape when he investigated a vehicle burglary that she had reported. He repeatedly contacted the woman at her residence in the following weeks asking for a date with her, but was rebuffed, Simi Valley police said. He is accused of committing the assault during one of the visits.

Nolan, a traffic patrol officer since 1988, was placed on paid administrative leave when he was arrested at his Simi Valley residence on Wednesday, said Simi Valley Lt. Robert Klamser. He said the department has initiated an administrative review of Nolan’s status to determine if any personnel action is warranted.

The unidentified woman whom Nolan is accused of raping did not report the sexual assault at the time, officials said. Officials said that information about the incident came to light this week when a friend of the victim reported it to police during an unrelated investigation.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Patrice Koenig discounted the significance of the delay in reporting the alleged rape. “The woman did have reasons for not reporting the crime,” Koenig said.

Koenig said Nolan is not charged with committing a crime under color of authority, an aggravating circumstance that occurs when people use the authority of their position to commit a crime. Nolan was not on duty when the assault allegedly occurred, she said in explaining why prosecutors did not file the additional charge.

Nolan, who is unmarried, joined the 110-officer force as a trainee in early 1988. He was assigned to regular traffic patrol duties at the time of the alleged assault.

On Friday, Klamser said officers who investigated the accusation against Nolan when it surfaced Tuesday “were not surprised at all” that charges were filed.

But news of the arrest and criminal complaint has hit other members of the department hard, Klamser said.

“Members of the department continue to be upset and shocked by the arrest,” he said.

The criminal complaint came less than two weeks after the Ventura County district attorney declined to file charges against former Simi Valley officer Kevin Medley, who admitted to having a relationship with a 17-year-old Explorer Scout who he later married.

Medley was one of three Simi Valley officers who have been fired since 1987 for having sexual affairs with underage girls in the department’s Explorer Scout program.

Nolan remains in custody on $250,000 bail after pleading not guilty Friday morning in Ventura County Municipal Court. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 7.

The felony charge carries a maximum sentence of eight years in prison.