HCPD settles $3 million in lawsuits over Allen Large misconduct

Source: Max Zolotukhin / Getty

Thanks to cell phone video and protesters’ refusal to accept police misconduct without accountability, we are starting to see more officers, police departments, and cities pay the price for their violence against the public.

According to a new report from Post & Courier, lawsuits against a now deceased Horry County Police detective named Allen Large have now been settled. Large died back in 2018 with a bevy of sexual assault and harassment allegations against his name after working for HCPD for 27 years. In 2015. Large was fired for sexual harassment and was later indicted on sexual assault charges for allegedly abusing several rape survivors (ranging from age 19 to mid-50s) and domestic violence victims. What makes this case particularly heinous is that Large was supposed to be investigating the crimes that these women were accusing other men of and Large took advantage of them.

Victims said he plied them with money, took them out to eat and offered to pay them to perform sex acts on other police officers, according to public records.

Large, who died in 2018, denied the sexual assault allegations, though he admitted to asking crime victims if they would participate in “catfighting,” fetish videos

Prior to making Hell is permanent resting place, Large stood accused of six counts of in office misconduct and five more counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. May he rest in feces.

Death allowed Large to escape criminal consequences, the civil lawsuits against HCPD and the city of Myrtle Beach persisted and recently the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld a decision to award $900,000 to the final victim of five lawsuits. When all was said and done, HCPD had to pay $3 million in settlements related to Large’s sexual abuse.

Said Scott Evan’s, attorney for the plaintiffs:

“These predators are good at selecting victims,” he said. “That’s exactly how he operated. Because he had access to dozens and dozens of potential victims but spent a lot of time grooming his victims and trying to select victims who would not be believed when they came forward. And he was right. They were not believed when they came forward. They weren’t believed even after the jury found multiple occurrences of gross negligence and civil rights violations.”

Hopefully the victims can use their settlements to seek therapy and find peace.