Jacksonville sheriff's officer racked up 28 complaints before Snapchat child-solicitation arrest
In his 15 years as a Jacksonville Sheriff's Office patrolman, Alejandro Carmona-Fonseca racked up 28 complaints from his superiors and citizens, according to his Employee Administrative Investigation History.
Then a week ago the 47-year-old Green Cove Springs resident's law enforcement career came to an apparent end with his arrest after a high school student said he received obscene images on his Snapchat social media account, the Clay County Sheriff's Office said.
He remains administratively suspended as he awaits trial on the criminal charges, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said.
Complaints for improper action, failure to conform to work standards, unbecoming conduct, misuse of computer software and chargeable traffic offenses appear in Carmona-Fonseca's personnel file on an almost yearly basis.
More than half were sustained, resulting in 15 sessions of counseling, five referral letters or written reprimands and four training requirements. The five-page document is a concise summary and does not detail the complaints other than when they occurred, the category and conclusion.
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Brittany Chrishawn Williams also identified Carmona-Fonseca as the officer who arrested her on May 13, 2020, after she told him to move his police car out of her driveway and she had her teeth knocked out during an ensuing confrontation with officers, according to her Twitter account. Writing there on March 17, "Why was he still on the streets after what he did to me?"
It was retweeted by Rep. Angie Nixon of Jacksonville. "After beating up a Black Woman and knocking her teeth out, in her own driveway because she asked him to leave, he’s now under arrest after being caught in an underaged sex-trafficking sting," Nixon tweeted.
Williams was charged with two counts of battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest after the officer and others took her into custody, the report said. An officer is heard telling her that "you threatened to pull a gun on me," then said she kicked him, according to police bodycam video released by the Sheriff's Office.
Williams was found not guilty of battery at her September trial but guilty of resisting without violence, court records show.
Randy Reaves, president of Jacksonville's Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5-30, issued the following statement on Carmona-Fonseca's arrest in the new case:
“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.”
What led to the arrest
As the complaints in Carmona-Fonseca's career as a police officer were released, so was the arrest affidavit that led to charges against him of online solicitation of a child, transmission of harmful material to a child and unlawful use of a two-way communication device. Immediately suspended as the investigation continues, the officer now awaits prosecution after being released on $100,000 bail.
Clay County Undersheriff Ron Lendvay announced the arrest at a March 15 news conference with his Jacksonville counterpart standing by.
The initial arrest report said the victim was 16 when he first met Carmona-Fonseca a year earlier at a Green Cove Springs gymnasium. Carmona-Fonseca asked for the student's Snapchat link, with the teen initially believing he would be sending workout information, Lendvay said.
Snapchat is a social media system that allows someone to send images and videos that are erased as soon as they are viewed. Lendvay said. But instead of workout advice, the teen began to get "unusual requests to send pictures of himself" with his shirt off, Lendvay said.
The four-page arrest affidavit contains new information gleaned from a Feb. 25 interview with the victim, now 17, who said he had received inappropriate messages from a guy known to him as "Alexandria." He told investigators he got a Snapchat image of Carmona-Fonseca's genitals, his face visible, the affidavit said. Then came an image of the officer wearing his police uniform.
"You can call me your police daddy," it said with the image. Also, on the boy's birthday, he received another message saying "Happy Birthday," also offering to send money or more explicit photos, the affidavit said.
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The victim told investigators he had alerted the Carmona-Fonseca that he was a high school student, and 16. Snapchat's location system showed Carmona-Fonseca sent messages while near a Jacksonville Sheriff's Office substation or the Brentwood area of the city where he patrolled, the affidavit said.
The victim allowed a Clay County Internet Crimes Against Children detective to take over the Snapchat account and assume his identity as online conversations continued with Carmona-Fonseca, Lendvay said. The affidavit said the Carmona-Fonseca offered the undercover detective a "berfday" gift, later asking if he wanted some naked workout videos.
The undercover detective tells the Carmona-Fonseca several times that he doesn't want to get in trouble and "we do not need to send videos," the affidavit said. Carmona-Fonseca responds: "Whose going to tell," adding he "may put you in handcuffs but that's just for fun." Carmona-Fonseca also sent a message saying, "This and everything stays between us. Even when I help you bury a body."
Investigators worked with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and matched the locations of the Snapchat messages with GPS data from Carmona-Fonseca's portable radio and laptop computer, the affidavit said.
Lendvay asked anyone with new information involving Carmona-Fonseca or any related child exploitation to contact the Clay County Sheriff's Office at (904) 264-6512 or remain anonymous by calling First Coast Crime Stoppers at (866) 845-8477 (TIPS).
dscanlan@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4549
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Arrested Jacksonville sheriff's officer has history of 28 complaints
