SM Police Explorers Accused of Battery and Sexual Assault in Hazing Incident

By Jorge Casuso

Friday, July 2--A novice Santa Monica police explorer was sexually assaulted, battered and racially taunted by fellow scouts who hazed him during a week-long cross-country excursion last summer, while the supervising police officers did nothing to stop it, according to a complaint filed against the city.

The alleged victim, who was 14 at the time, said that eight senior scouts stripped and photographed him; hit, struck and rammed him into a wall, "grabbed, restrained and handcuffed" him and "conducted a pat-down search… grabbing and holding his genitalia."

The scouts also held him clothed under a cold shower, massaged his body, threw ice down his back, put shaving cream all over his body and dunked him "mercilessly in pool water," the claim said.

During the hazing incidents, the victim, who is Asian, was referred to as a "wetback" and "a Gook" (the word also was spelled out in shaving cream on his dormitory door), and he was threatened with sodomy and told to perform oral sex, according to the claim.

"It went beyond pranks and practical jokes," said the boy’s attorney Paul Opel, with the Santa Monica firm of Gordon P. Gitlin. "This kid got put through the grinder."

According to the claim, the city and police force "failed to prevent or take corrective actions… and in fact fostered, approved, encouraged, promoted and ratified all of the actions by police officers and scouts." Four supervising officers went along on the trip.

Santa Monica Police spokesman Lt. Gary Gallinot said he could not comment on specific allegations or details of the claim, but said that Police Chief James T. Butts Jr. ordered an investigation as soon as he learned of the allegations last July.

He also said the department notified the Maryland authorities the next day and has cooperated fully with them. Because the alleged incidents occurred out of state, Gallinot said, federal authorities have been advised.

So far none of the Explorers or supervising officers have been charged with any crimes.

The hazing incidents, which began on July 19, continued across five states – California, Florida, Illinois, Texas, Maryland, as well as Washington, D.C. – culminating on July 26.

The claim was given credence by authorities in Maryland, who found that the boy had been an innocent victim of a crime on the University of Maryland campus in Baltimore, where the most serious incidents allegedly occurred. The claimant was awarded $700 in medical expenses and may be eligible for up to $2,000 for psychotherapy or counseling.

Also lending credence to the case is a letter from the explorer post to Police Chief Butts apologizing for the hazing incident.

"At no time did we mean to bring harm to any of our fellow Santa Monica Police Explorers," the August 13 letter said. "We are writing this letter on behalf of our advisors. Please do not punish them for what we all did."

Named as defendants along with the city are the police department, the police chief, four police officers and the eight explorer scouts.