JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A police officer with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office was accused of sending inappropriate photos of himself to a teenage boy, according to Clay County deputies.
Alejandro Carmona, 47, was suspended without pay from the Sheriff’s Office. He’s been charged with online solicitation of a child, transmission of harmful material to a child and unlawful use of a two-way communication device, which are felonies.
According to the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, Carmona was arrested in an undercover investigation when he showed up for work at JSO on Tuesday night.
The Clay County Sheriff’s Office said the investigation began a month ago when a teenage boy came forward to police. According to Clay County Undersheriff Ron Lendvay, the boy, who was 16 at the time, met Carmona at a gym. Investigators said nothing happened there, and that the crime he’s accused of occurred online.
“The victim believed he was going to get workout advice via Snapchat, but instead starting to get unusual requests to send pictures of himself to the suspect with his shirt off,” Lendvay said. “After a few months of snapchatting, the suspect sent lewd pictures of himself, including photos and videos featuring full frontal nudity that also included the suspect’s face.”
According to the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, when the teen came forward to deputies, an undercover deputy then pretended to be the victim online.
“During the undercover chats, the suspect verified that he knew the victim was underage and had just turned 17,” Lendvay said.
Investigators asked anyone else with information to come forward to the Clay County Sheriff’s Office.
A statement from the Fraternal Order of Police reads:
“Out of respect for the process and the fact the FOP is not going to represent this officer, we are not going to comment on the arrest at this time. However, if the allegations are true we hope the full weight of the criminal justice system is applied.”
Investigators said it’s the fourth case in 2022 involving the arrest of a JSO officer.
In December 2020, Carmona was at the center of an investigation when a woman was accused of assaulting him in his police cruiser. Video shows he was confronted by a woman for parking in a driveway and ordered him to leave. It escalated when, police said, she threw some type of green substance in his face, and she was arrested. The woman avoided jailtime and received six months probation.