Lawsuit Over Teen Who Was Sexually Assaulted By A DLNR Officer Is Settled For $1.25 Million
The officer was wearing his uniform at the time of the assault on New Year’s Day in 2016.
The state has agreed to pay $1.25 million to settle a lawsuit over the sexual assault of a 16-year-old girl at a Hilo beach park by a state Department of Land and Natural Resources enforcement officer in 2016.
A Big Island jury in 2017 convicted former Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement Officer Ethan Ferguson of two counts of second-degree sexual assault and three counts of third-degree sexual assault in the case.
Ferguson was sentenced to up to 10 years in prison later that year. He was released from prison on parole on Oct. 17, according to the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
During the trial, the girl testified that Ferguson took a pipe and marijuana from her, then led her to a secluded area of the park in Keaukaha, .
She said he then gave her the options of 鈥渕oney, drugs or sex鈥 to avoid being arrested, and forced her to engage in sex acts. Big Island police arrested Ferguson six days later.
Ferguson denied the allegations. According to the Tribune-Herald, he said he was responding to a report of turtle harassment and 鈥済ave some education鈥 to the teen. He said after he warned her, she kissed him on the lips, thanked him for not arresting her and kissed him again. Ferguson said he 鈥渒issed her back鈥 the second time and admitted it was 鈥渋nappropriate.鈥
The jury took less than three hours to convict him on the sex assault charges.
Ferguson’s case raised troubling questions about state hiring practices.
Ferguson had been discharged from the Honolulu Police Department in 2012 after nearly a dozen years of service, and HPD said it destroyed his disciplinary file. He was then hired by DLNR as a DOCARE officer in 2013.
Civil Beat reported in February 2014 that Ferguson had been fired by HPD after falsifying reports and lying to investigators about transporting an underage runaway.
Lawmakers later learned state officials knew Ferguson had been fired by HPD but did not know the details of Ferguson’s alleged misconduct while he was with the police department.
After Ferguson was arrested, Honolulu police disclosed they had told the state that Ferguson had been discharged and that the department would not recommend his hiring.
The police said in 2016 there was no record of the state Department of Human Resources Development ever contacting HPD for additional information.
Attorney General Anne Lopez would not comment on the case, spokeswoman Toni Schwartz said. Nicole Kalakau, the lawyer for the woman who was assaulted as a 16-year-old, also declined comment.
The settlement of the lawsuit over the assault is included in a package of funding requests for settlements and judgments against the state now pending action by state lawmakers in and .
