EXCLUSIVE: City of Santa Monica agrees to pay out a new total of $230MIILLION to 200-plus sex abuse victims of ex-police staffer who molested them as children – in what’s among the biggest settlement of its kind
- The City of Santa Monica’s total payouts to Eric Uller’s 200-plus victims have now reached a staggering $229,825,000, DailyMail.com has learned
- Attorney Catherine Lerer, whose firm represents 14 victims, said ‘more claims could still be made’ and victims have until their 40th birthday to file a claim
- Uller, a former Santa Monica PD staffer, molested children while volunteering at the Police Activities League in the 80s and 90s, and killed himself after his arrest
Santa Monica PD staffer Eric Uller molested children while volunteering at the Police Activities League with underprivileged kids in the 1980s and 1990s. He was arrested in 2018 and killed himself
The City of Santa Monica has now agreed to pay out a total $230million to more than 200 victims of former police staffer Eric Uller, it announced Tuesday – but one lawyer says there could still be more.
It is among the biggest payout of its kind ever, for one of the most prolific alleged abusers.
California city’s council said it approved settlements of $122.5million for 124 claimants last Tuesday evening.
Attorney Catherine Lerer, whose firm McGee Lerer represented 14 of the victims, said that the total payouts have now reached a staggering $229,825,000, to over 200 people allegedly abused by Uller as children.
‘More claims could still be made,’ she told DailyMail.com.
‘For victims under age 40, they have until their 40th birthday to file a claim.’
‘My clients are happy that there is some measure of justice which will help them to move forward in their lives and in their healing, but the unfortunate reality is that no amount of money can take away the memory of what was done to them.’
Uller worked as an IT technician and dispatcher at SMPD, dressing in police uniform and driving marked and unmarked police cars. Whistleblowers told DailyMail.com they reported the abuse as early as 1993, but were shut down or ignored by senior staff
The City of Santa Monica has agreed to pay out$229,825,000, to over 200 victims, DailyMail.com has learned. The Santa Monica Police Department is pictured
Former Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD) staffer Eric Uller molested dozens of kids while volunteering at the Police Activities League (PAL), a non-profit for underprivileged youth, in the 1980s and 1990s.
He killed himself awaiting trial in 2018. But the City’s alleged negligence and even cover-up of the abuse led to a mountain of lawsuits.
Victims told of Uller grooming them, inviting kids to play in his police car and gradually progressing to molesting and raping them.
Catherine Lerer of LA firm McGee, Lerer & Associates who is representing 14 victims, said ‘more claims could still be made’
Some of his alleged victims were as young as eight years old, and said they were abused for years.
One former staffer at PAL told DailyMail.com last year that she reported Uller to the program’s director, Patty Loggins, in 1993 after a boy came to her office and alleged Uller had made sexually inappropriate comments to him – but was threatened with a reprimand for gossiping.
Santa Monica City Councilman Oscar de la Torre also tried to blow the whistle on Uller starting in the early 2000s, but says no action was taken, and alleged the council even retaliated by defunding the youth center he helped run.
‘Because none of these cases has gone to trial, we may never know the full extent of the city’s malfeasance,’ Lerer said. ‘There will never be a public airing of who knew, why was nothing done, and was there a coverup.
‘I am happy for the victims who are receiving compensation for the horrible abuse they suffered. At the same time, I’m sad for the residents of my hometown, the city of Santa Monica, for the impact the payout resulting from the city’s malfeasance will have on them.’
California Assembly Bill 218 temporarily extended the statute of limitations on historic child sex abuse, resulting in a deluge of lawsuits, with many being filed as recently as four months ago.
One former staffer at PAL, Michelle Cardiel, previously told DailyMail.com she reported Uller to the program’s director, Patty Loggins, in 1993 after a boy came to her office and alleged Uller had made sexually inappropriate comments to him
‘Most of my clients didn’t come forward until the last week of December 2022,’ Lerer said. ‘The reasons they gave for coming forward so late were embarrassment, shame, humiliation, and desperate desire to keep their family and friends from learning what happened to them.
‘Under California law, a childhood sexual abuse victim must file a lawsuit by age 40. Many of my Uller victim clients are under age 40, so I strongly suspect there are more victims out there.
‘I suspect some victims we’ll never know about because they committed suicide. Other victims are in jail because the abuse put them on a path of destruction.’
The City says it has added more training and protections for children in its care.
‘Following the first allegations of sexual abuse by Uller in 2018, the City expanded requirements for Child Abuse Mandated Reporter Training for all employees, volunteers, and contractors for any City-managed youth program; and created a Child Protection Committee, and established a Child Protection Officer, to oversee implementation of child abuse prevention measures across City programs,’ it said in a press release Wednesday.
‘My heart goes out to the victims who have experienced so much pain and heartbreak,’ said Mayor Gleam Davis. ‘The settlement is the City’s best effort to address the suffering of the victims in a responsible way, while also acknowledging that the harm done to the victims cannot be undone.’
‘The City has remained vigilant by implementing best practices and strict policies to ensure that these unconscionable acts do not occur again,’ said City Manager David White.
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