An investigation into decades of sexual exploitation of juvenile Explorer Scouts by public-safety officers includes at least three cases in Arizona among the roughly 160 scouts who were victimized nationally.

Over the past 40 years, the scouts have been raped, sodomized, kissed, dated and otherwise exploited by 129 police officers, sheriff’s deputies, firefighters and state police troopers in 115 separate cases, an investigation by the Louisville Courier-Journal found.

Explorer programs allow teenage boys and girls to work alongside public-safety officers to learn firsthand aspects of the job.

In Arizona, The Republic found records on three such cases of sexual interaction that occurred in the past 10 years. The Republic and Courier-Journal both are part of the USA TODAY Network.

The Arizona cases include:

  • In 2010, Nogales Police Department Officer Mariano Garibay was charged with having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old member of the department’s Explorers program. He was later sentenced to 25 months in prison after pleading guilty to 11 counts of sexual conduct with a minor. His Arizona peace-officer certification was voluntarily relinquished, according to Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board records.
  • In 2007, Peoria Police Department Officer David Kerr resigned after he was accused of sending sexually explicit text messages to a 17-year-old female Explorer Scout. He was not charged, but his certification was revoked, AZPOST records show.
  • In 2016, St. Johns police Officer Samuel Lovio Perez resigned after less than two years with the department. According to AZPOST records, Perez had off-duty sexual relations with a 17-year-old female Explorer Scout. He was an adviser/mentor for the program at the time, records said. He voluntarily relinquished his certification. Additional information on his case was not immediately available.

 

 

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