JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Former Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office officer Josué Garriga III has been charged with the federal crime of using a cell phone/internet to coerce a minor.
Last month, Garriga, 34, resigned from JSO after the Clay County Sheriff’s Office arrested him on several charges, including unlawful sexual activity with a minor, stemming from a sex crime investigation involving a 17-year-old girl he met at church.
The new federal charges are expected to take precedence over the charges in Clay County.
The federal criminal complaint, which was initially filed a week ago but just made public on the docket on Friday, appears largely based on the CCSO investigation, but some new details were included, like WhatsApp messages allegedly sent from Garriga to the teen and Garriga’s interview with investigators following the accusations.
During the investigation, investigators learned there were 350 contacts or contact attempts through phone or FaceTime video calls between Oct. 2, 2023, and March 6, 2024.
Investigators talked to the teen, who told them she met Garriga, who is a married father of two, at church and exchanged phone numbers with him. She said he told her to download WhatsApp so they could communicate.
On March 11, CCSO Computer Forensic Analyst (CFA) Det. Pena began processing the teen’s electronic devices and discovered numerous deleted WhatsApp messages between February 27 and March 8.
Texts allegedly sent by Garriga, who goes by the nickname “Sway,” on Feb. 27 include:
- “I miss ur face”
- “I miss getting pics from you too so crappy not seeing you as much as I was so use to seeing you and I def need a hug when we can see each other”
- “You looked amazing on Sunday btw”
- “You ok with me sending pics again?”
- “When do you shower?”
- “What is your hw for today?”
The next day, Garriga wrote “You walked to the bus stop yet” and later shared his location after asking to FaceTime.
Former Federal Prosecutor Curtis Fallgatter talked about how the text messages could play a role in the case.
“Those text messages are some of the fundamental proof of the charge that they brought in terms of his solicitation of a minor. And if it’s in writing with a text message, that is, that’s a strong piece of evidence,” Fallgatter said. “That’s different than the young lady saying, Well, I got a phone call and here’s what he said. If it’s actually in a written form and something that can be traced to his phone, it’d be very hard for him to to deny that he’s the one that sent it.”
Investigators interviewed the teen, who is now 18, and she said they met at church around August 2023 and Garriga later tracked her down on Instagram and began to message her. She said Garriga “hit on her” and would be inappropriate, according to the federal complaint. Eventually, they would meet up near her home late at night, and that’s where some of the alleged unlawful sexual contact occurred. The teen also said Garriga sent her nude photos of himself and touched her on multiple occasions including once at church while she was working behind the coffee bar.
(News4JAX is choosing not to include other accusations of sexual contact included in the complaint due to the graphic nature)
On March 27, investigators spoke to Garriga.
He acknowledged that he knew the girl, according to the complaint, and said “she goes to my church.”
Garriga said he knew the girl “pretty well” and said they started working together while working at the serving portion of her church and became friends from there. He also said the two communicated outside of church.
Garriga said he stopped by the teen’s house on occasion, mostly at night, and communicated multiple times with her on FaceTime and on WhatsApp.
Garriga also admitted he asked the teen for pictures, but according to the complaint, said “I would never ask for anything inappropriate,” and denied receiving inappropriate pictures. He also denied having physical contact with the teen other than a hug.
Garriga acknowledged to investigators that he asked the teen when she showered but said it was in the wrong context and he was just wondering when she was going to call him.
When asked if his wife was aware of their friendship, Garriga hesitated before answering and then said, “Umm, I want to say kinda, yeah because, I mean she would see us at church working together,” according to investigators.
Bond was initially denied for Garriga but he later bonded out of jail in Clay County.
Garriga was in federal custody on Friday and a first appearance for his federal case was set for Friday afternoon.
Garriga was hired by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office in 2018, and before that, he worked as a Putnam County K9 officer.
Garriga has been involved in several high-profile incidents, including the fatal shooting of Jamee Johnson who attempted to elude arrest during a traffic stop. In that case, Johnson drove off and dragged Garriga with his car across the street, and then police said he reached for a gun in the front seat.
Garriga shot into the car and killed Johnson. The shooting was later ruled justified.
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In a separate News4JAX I-TEAM investigation into racially insensitive social media posts made by a JSO gang unit sergeant, it was revealed Garriga made the following statements about Jamee Johnson in an internal text thread: “The NFL recognizes Jamee Johnson former FAMU student killed during a traffic stop.”
To which Garriga responded, “Why are they recognizing that clown,” Garriga said. “Goes to show no matter how wrong they are they still want to be recognized just because they are black.”
Garriga was also involved in another fatal shooting while he was a deputy with the PCSO in 2015. According to a news release, PCSO confirmed Garriga was one of four deputies responding to a drug bust.
Andrew Williams was in his car and accelerated toward them, the report said. Four of the deputies fired back at Williams, and he was shot and killed. A deputy was also hit in the arm.
RELATED: Jacksonville Sheriff: Arrest of now-former JSO officer a ‘black eye on the agency’
Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters requested to sit down with News4JAX to share his reaction to Garriga’s arrest.
Watch the full interview below:
