In May, prosecutors in Seattle charged a sheriff’s deputy with raping a 17-year-old girl. The deputy met the teenager while he was an adviser in his department’s youth mentorship program known as Explorers.
The victim, now 24, came forward in May to report the abuse, which she alleges took place in 2017 and 2018. The assaults allegedly began after King County Sheriff’s Deputy Ricardo Arturo Cueva told her she was cute and that he liked her while they were alone on a ride-along in his police SUV. Cueva — who is 15 years her senior — later kissed the teenager while they were on a separate ride-along at night. Prosecutors contend that Cueva’s abuse escalated, according to court records, to include sexual assaults in his sheriff’s vehicle and his home. The age of consent in Washington state is typically 16, but rises to 18 if the other person is in a position of authority.
This story was published in partnership with The Guardian.
Law enforcement departments across the country have Explorer programs — overseen by Scouting America, formerly known as Boy Scouts of America — and they have a history of sexual abuse and misconduct, as The Marshall Project reported last year. Ride-alongs, in which young people accompany officers on their patrol shifts, are a key perk of the Explorers program.
They are also a gateway to abuse.
The Marshall Project examined hundreds of abuse allegations in law enforcement Explorer programs and found that about a quarter of them involved officers on ride-alongs with teens — some as young as 14 years old.
“Mr. Cueva staunchly maintains his innocence, and we intend to thoroughly investigate his case and defend him vigorously,” Cueva’s attorneys, Amy Muth and Jennifer Atwood, wrote in a statement. Cueva pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Hellbound and Down 