Police Explorer Operator Dismissed from Lawsuit Alleging Girl Was Molested by Morovia-Area Police Officer

POMONA, CA -- A judge dismissed part of a lawsuit filed by a onetime Explorer Scout who alleges that a former Irwindale police officer sexually abused her in the station and in his patrol car.

Pomona Superior Court Judge Dan Thomas Oki ruled Thursday that there were no triable issues against Learning for Life Inc., which operates the Police Explorer Program nationwide.

The city of Irwindale, the Irwindale Police Department and former Officer Daniel Camerano remain defendants in the negligence lawsuit filed by "Jane Doe" in April 2015.

The suit, which was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court and subsequently transferred to Pomona Superior Court, alleged that Learning for Life knew or should have known that Camerano was unfit for the job and that he could abuse minors.

Camerano, now 29, pleaded no contest in December 2014 to molesting the plaintiff and to sending sexual text messages to a second. He was sentenced in January 2015 to two years and eight months in prison and required to register as a sex offender for life.

The plaintiff was 15 when she was first abused in 2009 and the molestations continued "for several years," according to her court papers.

The complaint alleges that other officers would "smirk" as Camerano would walk with the plaintiff down a hallway to a file room and be alone with her for up to 20 minutes, "in which time he would sexually abuse her."

Although Camerano was briefly removed from his position as adviser to the Explorer Scout program after a male member complained about his conduct with female members, he was later reinstated to the position and renewed his sexual abuse of the girl, the suit states.

The plaintiff also alleges Camerano molested her during ride-alongs that were ostensibly conducted with her so she could observe the duties of an officer on patrol.

Camerano resigned from the department in June 2014.

-- City News Service, photo via Shutterstock