CLAY COUNTY, Fla. – News4JAX is learning more details about the sex crime investigation involving a 17-year-old girl that led to the arrest of a 34-year-old now former officer with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
According to the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, Josue Garriga is facing several charges, including unlawful sexual action with a minor, lewd and lascivious touching, and the transmission of harmful material to a minor.
Despite a pastor’s warning, Garriga is accused of continuing his inappropriate relationship with the teen, and when her mother learned about it, the girl attempted to take her own life.
According to the warrant, the mother “found her daughter unconscious on her bed, after admitting to attempting suicide by ingesting prescribed medication.”
Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters condemned the alleged actions of Garriga on Thursday following his arrest.
“I know you’re a spiritual man. When you think about this potentially starting in the House of God. I mean, personally, how does that strike you?” News4JAX asked Waters during a sit-down interview.
‘It’s as bad if not worse than a pastor doing it. You know, we hear about pastors doing it, I know that’s not what this is about, but when you, when you hear that kind of stuff, you know, a pastor, a minister is a servant. That’s what a police officer is — a servant,” Waters said.
The Clay County Sheriff’s Office said it received a call on March 3 from a concerned mother, who said she found inappropriate communications between her daughter and a man, who was identified as Garriga.
The mom found texts in her daughter’s phone from someone called “Sway,” an arrest report said. The report said the mother called the number from her daughter’s phone and a man picked up. When she identified herself as the teen’s mother, the man hung up.
Then the mother also found messages exchanged on WhatsApp. The mother told deputies she recalled hearing the name “Sway” mentioned at church sometime in September or October 2023. The report said the mother talked with the church pastor who confirmed “Sway” was Garriga and told her he noticed flirtatious behavior between the teen and Garriga while the two worked together at the church’s coffee bar.
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The pastor told deputies that he did not “hear any explicit communications” when he saw Garriga and the teen working at the bar. But he did say it was “unwise communications” because Garriga is married and has a child, according to the report.
The pastor said he also spoke to Garriga and asked him not to volunteer with the teen. The report said Garriga agreed.
That’s when the mother called the CCSO, sparking the investigation. When detectives spoke to the teen, she said she met Garriga at church and he followed her on Instagram from an undercover account. They also exchanged phone numbers.
The teen said her communications with Garriga began as “friendly conversations,” but then Garriga started to “hit on her” and make her feel uncomfortable, the report said.
The report said she told detectives that Garriga was aware of her age and knew she was in high school.
WATCH SHERIFF T.K. WATERS’ REACTION TO ARREST
Garriga suggested they talk on WhatsApp, where they exchanged lewd photos, according to the report.
She said he would come to her neighborhood in a black car with a police radio, and she would sneak out to see him at night.
The report said their most recent encounter was at a coffee shop in Orange Park where they kissed in Garriga’s truck and, according to the report, he pressured her to do other sexual things. Investigators said they were able to verify the encounter through security cameras and red-light camera video.
The report also described other incidents between the two, but News4JAX is not sharing the graphic details of the report.
Garriga is being held without bond in the case. He denied all allegations of sexual activity with the girl.
If you or someone you know has also been a victim of Garriga, you’re asked to contact either the Jacksonville or Clay County Sheriff’s Office.
“Anytime these instances come up we wait for other victims and ask for other victims, I don’t know, I don’t know, we hope there are not,” Waters said.
Garriga’s name is now being added to what’s called the “Brady List” by the State Attorney’s Office, which means prosecutors have to disclose to the defense any evidence that could be used to impeach a police witness. It’s a designation that could impact cases Garriga was a part of, like the arrest of Le’keian Woods, where he was seen using force while taking the 24-year-old into custody.