Whittier to pay $3.5 million to settle sexual abuse allegations by former police Explorers, lawyer says

Anthony DeMarco, an attorney who helped secure a more-than-$700-million settlement with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles for priest sex crime victims, said the city of Whittier‘s lawyers agreed to the settlement shortly before the first of the two former Explorers’ cases was set to go to trial.

A spokesperson for the city of Whittier could not be reached for comment.

According to the lawsuits, the former Explorers suffered sexual abuse from several officers in the late 1970s when they were 14 to 18 years old. The lawsuits allege that the Whittier police culture allowed officers to abuse their authority to engage in sexual activity with underage female Explorers they were supposed to be mentoring.

At the heart of the allegations was now-retired Officer Charles Drylie, who supervised the youths, allegedly groomed them, and then sexually abused them in a squad car during active duty hours, according to the lawsuits. A lawyer for Drylie could not be reached for comment.

The abuse occurred during the city’s police Explorer activities. According to the lawsuits, Drylie, who worked there until the late 1980s, used the “Ride-Along” activities to isolate underage female Explorers, manipulate and coerce them into sexual activity. In one case, an unnamed corporal who replaced Drylie continued the sexual assaults, according to the lawsuits filed in 2022. In a deposition, DeMarco said that Drylie invoked his right not to incriminate himself.

The “Ride-Alongs” mostly involve a single officer, accompanied in their patrol vehicle by a single Explorer for the entirety or most of the officer’s shift. The ride-along, the suits allege, allowed the officer unfettered and unsupervised contact with the Explorer away from any accountability for many hours at a time, and often late into the evening.

Since Police Explorer programs began in the early 1970s, there have been complaints of law enforcement officers molesting underage female Explorers, and particularly during “Ride-Alongs,” DeMarco said. He secured a $4-million legal victory for three victims in the Irwindale Explorer program in 2018.

One of the women allegedly sexual abused by two Whittier police officers told The Times, “It was good old boys club and officers protected each other.”

She said she was sexually assaulted while on “Ride Alongs.” “These officers were in my parents’ home,” said the woman, a former police officer who is not being identified because she is a sex crime victim. “They befriend you and say all the right things to get to you,” she said. “We as the victims never wanted to talk about it. I never knew one of my best friends was a victim too until years later.”

Another woman in the lawsuits told The Times, “I want people to know that parents need to be more watchful of the police officer working in Explorer academies.”

DeMarco said two other lawsuits also involving the department’s Explorer program are pending.

“Police Explorer programs, and specifically ‘Ride-Alongs,’ are the least safe youth-oriented program in the country when it comes to protecting against minors being sexually assaulted by the adults that are part of the program,” said DeMarco.

He said the former Explorers believe the litigation has brought some measure of accountability.