County Held Liable in Deputy’s Sex Attacks : Appeals Court Says an Employer Must Suffer Consequences When Police Authority Is Abused

Saying the county must “suffer the consequences” when police authority is abused, a state appellate court reinstated Orange County as a defendant in a $1.1-million civil lawsuit that accuses a former deputy sheriff of kidnaping, assaulting and emotionally damaging a Mission Viejo woman.

A unanimous three-judge panel of the state Court of Appeal division in Santa Ana decided that the county could be held to answer for the actions of its onetime employee, George Loudermilk.

An employer, the county in this case, “must be responsible for acts done during the exercise” of police authority, the panel said in an opinion written by Justice Edward J. Wallin and released Monday.

Lawyer Disappointed

“I’m really disappointed, not so much because they reversed the case but because they failed to enlighten us about the effect of his felony convictions,” said James P. Slack of Santa Ana, an attorney for the county.

Loudermilk, 40, was convicted four years ago and served a year in prison for the kidnapings and false imprisonments of three women motorists he had stopped and forced into his patrol car for long, late-night rides.

One of those women, Martha Penny White, 38, sued Loudermilk and the county in June, 1981, eight months after Loudermilk took her first to an orange grove and later to an isolated rock quarry and threatened to rape and kill her, according to trial testimony. She was not raped.

After he released her 3 1/2-hours later, he stopped her again and demanded a goodnight kiss, her testimony and her lawsuit state.

A Superior Court ruling had dismissed the county from the civil action because Loudermilk acted outside the scope of his authority when he took White on the long ride. Slack contended that Loudermilk’s felony convictions proved that he was acting outside the scope of his authority.

But White’s attorneys at the Santa Ana firm of Paoli & Paoli insisted that his actions flowed from his authority to stop motorists for possible traffic violations.

The appellate court agreed and reversed the lower court decision.

Could Be Liable

“Because the county placed Loudermilk in this position of authority, it will be liable for his actions should White prove her allegations at trial,” Wallin said in his opinion.

“The use of authority is incidental to the duties of a police officer,” Wallin pointed out. “The county enjoys tremendous benefits from the public’s respect for that authority. Therefore, it must suffer the consequences when the authority is abused.”

Slack said the county will seek a rehearing or will appeal to the state Supreme Court.