City of Santa Monica's fiscal emergency is related to $220 million in payouts to victims of 1 city employee, Eric Uller

Summary... Eric Uller, city employee and member of Police Activities league, drove boys (mostly Latino) home, from 1980s and 2000s and molested them. the City of Santa Monica has paid out $220 million in settlements. Uller committed suicide.
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On September 9, multiple news outlets reported that the City of Santa Monica will likely declare a fiscal emergency due to financial constraints causing a budget crisis. Santa Monica is reliant on revenue from tourism, and reports indicate that tourism is down by 50 percent since 2019.

The City of Santa Monica has been plagued with a total of $229.8 million in legal settlements from the sexual abuse former city employee Eric Uller who worked with the Police Activities League (PAL).

A total of 124 people alleged they were victims of Uller. 105 individuals were paid $107.3 million. A later settlement added $122.5 million for additional victims.

https://www.thesfnews.com/santa-monica-struggles-with-lawsuits-and-finances/96692

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Over the past year, Lerer has been pursuing potential clients who allege they were abused by Uller between the late 1980s and early 2000s while he was volunteering at the City's Police Activities League (PAL).

"Did Eric Uller drive your child home from Santa Monica Police Activities League (PAL) between the late 1980s and early 2000s?" a display ad in a local Santa Monica paper asks.

"Most victims kept it a secret from their loved ones, even to this day. Your loved one could be eligible for compensation. There may still be time to file a claim."

While the ad reaches potential clients in Santa Monica, many of Lerer's clients called after national media reported the settlements last April and an investigation appeared shortly after in the LA Times.

"Many of them have moved from Santa Monica," Lerer said. "They don't want to be reminded.

"My ads don't reach those," she said. "There could be a lot more."

Most of Uller's alleged victims were Latino boys between the ages of 12 and 15 from the Pico Neighborhood, according to Dave Ring, who represented most of the plaintiffs in the second settlement. The youngest was eight.

Uller -- who committed suicide three weeks after his arrest -- is alleged to have engaged in sexual abuse almost exclusively with boys, but Lerer says that eleven of her 53 current and potential clients were girls.

The average age child sexual abuse victims come forward, Lerer said, is when they are in their fifties.


https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2024/April-2024/04_05_2024_Council_to_Take_Up_38_More_Child_Sex_Abuse_Cases.html


Background on the Arrest of and Charges Against Eric Uller 

In late spring 2018, the Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD) received an anonymous tip about an alleged crime involving Eric Uller. Following identification of the victim, SMPD reported the information to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department  LASD) for investigation.  

As a result of its investigation, LASD arrested Uller on October 18, 2018, on charges of Lewd Acts with a Minor. On October 22, 2018, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office charged Uller with five counts of sexual crimes against four minors.  The charges included three counts of Lewd Acts Upon a Child, two counts of Oral Copulation of a Person Under 18, and one count of Continuous Sexual Abuse.  The charges related to alleged incidents dating back to the 1980s and 1990s while Uller was volunteering with the City’s Police Activities League (PAL) program.   

On November 15, 2018, the City was notified that Uller was found dead in his apartment in an apparent suicide. As a result of Uller’s death, proceedings on the criminal charges against him were halted.

Although the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department closed this first investigation upon Eric Uller’s death, the Santa Monica Police Department received an additional allegation that individuals at the time were on notice of Uller’s activities and failed to meet their obligations as mandatory reporters under the Child Abuse Neglect and Reporting Act. The Santa Monica Police Department again referred that matter to the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and that investigation remains outstanding.   

The City cooperated fully with the Sheriff’s Department and the District Attorney’s Office throughout the criminal investigations and prosecution. The criminal matters were closed after Eric Uller’s death.

https://www.santamonica.gov/city-response-to-allegations-related-to-former-employee-eric-uller