The City of Brownwood has settled the lawsuit filed by Phillip and Brandi Whitley on behalf of a minor, against the City of Brownwood, Brownwood Police Chief Virgil Cowin, and former police Sgt. Vincent Ariaz.

The case was settled for the sum of $300,000.00. Except for the deductible amount of $1000, insurance carriers paid the settlement.  In exchange for the settlement amount, plaintiffs have released all the parties from any further liability in the case.

Mayor Bert Massey stated: “The City is pleased to settle this case and obtain closure on a tragic set of events that were perpetrated by the criminal acts of a former employee of the City. The City is deeply sorry for what happened to the young lady who was the victim in this case and our hearts will continue to go out to her with the hope that she can put this entire incident behind her and live a long, happy life.”

The family of the minor and former Brownwood Police Explorer filed the lawsuit in 2008 which claimed that Ariaz was given the unsupervised opportunity to prey on teenage girls in the Explorer program.  Ariaz is currently serving a 20-year prison term for his actions.