CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles Times
By JOEL RUBIN, RICHARD WINTON, KATE MATHER
A detective for the Los Angeles Police Department who once investigated sexual assault cases killed himself Thanksgiving morning after two relatives accused him of sexually abusing them, authorities said Friday.
The body of Dennis Derr, 52, a 17-year LAPD veteran, was found in his car in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Palmdale, law enforcement officials said. Derr died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s Assistant Chief Ed Winter.
Brian Hudson, a sergeant in the L.A. County Sheriff’s Special Victims Bureau, confirmed two adults made sexual abuse allegations against Derr shortly before he committed suicide. Hudson declined to provide any other details about the investigation into Derr, but other sheriff’s and LAPD sources with knowledge of the case said the two accusers were relatives of Derr.
Although he said the investigation was in its early stages, Hudson said that at this time there have been no other molestation allegations made against Derr.
Philip Derr, the detective’s son, said in an interview that two adult men related to Derr recently confided in each other that Derr had molested them when they were teenagers. …
Over the last decade, Derr also served as a pastor or bible study teacher at two churches, his son said.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.