As a resident, I'm quite upset that my taxes pay these damages, and that the officers themselves aren't on the hook for some of this. Yes, I know that police have qualified immunity, which means they're not held responsible for anything they do on the job, but it's not right. They're the ones who did this, not the more abstract "City of Mountain View".

A big rousing thanks to our 2 over zealous cops doing bad police work which lead to the sexual violation of a 5 year old child.

Kudos to you officers Mark Poirier and Mason Motomura.

Now we all have to pay for your sick power trip, and this is not just msg board bluster, I would and will calmly say that to your faces if I get the chance.
This was 100% terrible on your part!

The offending Officers should be financially compensating this family with funds from the Police Officer's Pensions or Union. Why the Mountain View citizens are responsible for the Police's egregious mistake is beyond my understanding.

As a woman who was date raped by a policeman - many years ago admittedly - I have long known that (many of) the police in this country are power hungry, ill trained, and lacking in common decency.

I think most of the people are confused that MV citizens will be taxed in someway to pay the $200K. To rest your minds at ease, the city is paying and $200,000 is nothing to the city.

What many of the people bashing the officers and social worker may not realize is that now every future incident that is reported, perhaps not all that can be done, will be done for fear of a lawsuit.

The issue is larger than MVPD, whom I have personally found to be very professional. While the two officers involved should have not assumed guilt and abuse, and taken the time to losten to the explanations of the parents, I think once the preschool reported this overheard comment from the 5 year old the path was already established. In the ideal world, the preschool would have talked directly with the child, and possibly with the parents, prior to making the CPS report. But again, I understand the reality for the preschool, where the penalties for not reporting are high.

The system is certainly imperfect, and the outcome was highly regrettable in this case, and I feel for the involved family, and understand the basis for their lawsuit. And like others, I prefer that our city of MV not need to pay large lawsuits. But I do not think it is right to demonize these two officers for what was likely a lapse of judgement. Most of us make similar lapses on a near daily basis, but thankfully most of our lapses are not nearly as consequential.

Shouldn't law enforcement officers learn the law before they engage in enforcement? Does the county District Attorney's Office provide any instruction to officers concerning the law?

Please. This is far from a "lapse of judgement". This was a crime. Sadly the police do a terrible job of policing themselves.

Remember this the next time someone is calling cops "heroes".

Just a reminder to never talk to the police. These parents thought talking to the cops would take care of the situation. Instead they were forced to hold down their child while she was sexually assaulted.

If the police knock on your door. Don't open it, don't talk to them. It will never help you.

I wish they had taken it to a jury trial. They would have gotten millions. I sure hope the staff at Landels who called was fired and all other staff retrained on how and when to actually contact authorities for suspected abuse. That was a gross misinterpretation of the mandated reporter statute. Shame on them all. The police and the social worker then tortured a poor defenseless child and her family. I would have awarded them millions.

They weren't asking for millions. They were seeking $1 million.

I don't understand why these two cops are still employed. Imagine what they have to do to get fired if this isn't enough.