LAPD officer accused of exposing himself at O.C. nature preserve

A Los Angeles Police Department officer has been charged with exposing himself to women at the Bolsa Chica ecological reserve in Huntington Beach.

Huntington Beach police said Ryan Eric Galliher, a 33-year-old Huntington Beach resident, exposed himself to women and a 12-year-old girl at the nature preserve and urged her to fondle him.

Investigators said that Galliher, sometimes wearing only tennis shoes, exposed himself to joggers and other visitors to the wetlands, including an 80-year-old woman.

Huntington Beach police and Orange County prosecutors said they are asking other potential victims to contact them.

Galliher was charged with one felony count of attempted lewd act upon a child under 14 years old, one felony count of contacting a minor with the intent to commit a lewd act, five misdemeanor counts of indecent exposure and one misdemeanor count of engaging in lewd conduct.

If convicted, he could face up to four years in prison and ordered to register as a sex offender for life.

Galliher was arrested Oct. 23 as the department was investigating reports that a man had been exposing himself for several months in the Bolsa Chica wetlands area.

Police investigators were conducting surveillance at Bolsa Chica Street, just south of Los Patos Avenue, when they claim they saw Galliher walk out of the wetlands, pull down his shorts and begin masturbating.

Galliher, who joined the LAPD in late 2011 and worked at the department’s Southwest Division, has been assigned to home pending the outcome of the criminal investigation and an internal investigation, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Galliher is free on $100,000 bail.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Huntington Beach Police Department at (714) 375-5066.

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