Santa Monica police allowed a civilian employee to volunteer in a youth program — where he went on to molest more than 200 children — despite a 1991 background check that revealed he was arrested as a teen for molesting a toddler he baby-sat.
Santa Monica police allowed a civilian employee to volunteer in a youth program — where he went on to molest more than 200 children — despite a 1991 background check that revealed he was arrested as a teen for molesting a toddler he baby-sat, according to a report reviewed by The Times.in the predominately Latino neighborhoods of Santa Monica, often traveling in an unmarked police vehicle or his personal SUV, which was outfitted with police equipment, according to court records.
Santa Monica this week settled more lawsuits, bringing its total payout to $229.285 million — the most costly single-perpetrator sexual abuse disbursement for any municipality in the state. Uller’s stepmother, however, told the investigator she was concerned about what had happened and didn’t know whether Uller had done anything, but she hoped “it was an adolescent phase and he had grown out of it.”
Uller “seemed very concerned that the charges made against him were so serious, even though not true,” the investigator wrote. He noted that Uller’s references spoke highly of him, and city staff described him as a good worker with extensive computer knowledge. “We need a new state law to make government officials more culpable when they repeatedly overlook reports of child sexual abuse,” said attorney Brian Claypool, who represented more than 80 victims in the lawsuits. “These are mandated reporters, and law as it stands isn’t enough.”
Cardiel told sheriff’s investigators that around 1995, a boy told her that Uller had offered to help “clean his penis because his father is a doctor.” Cardiel reported the incident to Santa Monica police Officer Jay Trisler, who was then assigned to the PAL program, and Trisler said he would investigate. She also told her PAL boss, Patty Loggins, who told Cardiel that she would be written up if she kept spreading workplace gossip, according to the sheriff’s report.
“I thought that Eric’s behavior and involvement around the boys was not appropriate, and so I reported my concerns to my sergeant and my lieutenant,” the detective said, noting that she was told by her superiors it was not her business. Slaughter told a sheriff’s investigator that Uller reported directly to the chief of police, James Butts. “The rank structure was overlooked for Eric’s behalf,” Slaughter said in the sheriff’s report.
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