In nearly three decades as a civilian employee with the Santa Monica Police Department and the city, Eric Uller was considered a standout public servant who won awards for his technological innovations.
But his biggest claim to fame was his work as a volunteer in the Police Activities League, where, beginning in the late 1980s, he worked with boys and girls in the nonprofit’s after-school program.
Uller was a familiar face at the PAL center that served Santa Monica’s Latino neighborhoods, often traveling in a police vehicle and befriending generations of youths.
It took decades to uncover that Uller was a sexual predator, the center of a stunning series of crimes that destroyed the lives of children and exposed grave questions as to why it took so long for authorities to uncover what he was doing.
Now, more than 200 people have come forward to say they were abused by Uller, most of whom were underprivileged children looking for guidance and activities and city programs. Court documents show he often preyed on vulnerable boys whose parents were in this country without proper immigration papers. Criminal investigations and civil lawsuits have revealed numerous missed warnings about Uller’s abuse over many years.
This week, Santa Monica 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. But more than the money, the case has sparked intense criticism over why...
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