San Jose fire captain arrested in child sex sting operation

Michael Thomas
·2 min read
1

(KRON) – Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper announced the arrest of 24 men due to a three-day child sex crime operation on Monday. The arrests included a San Jose Fire Department captain.

The three-day sting operation “Operation Spring Cleaning” was conducted from March 29 through March 31. Sheriff’s Office deputies posed as children online to detect sexual soliciting.

According to the Sacramento Bee, some of the suspects arranged to meet with the “children” to have sexual contact with them.

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Spencer Parker, 43, was employed as a San Jose Fire Department captain at the time of his arrest, according to the Sacramento Bee. On April 3, the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office filed a criminal complaint against Parker, which was also the day he was arraigned.

“The safety of the community is our first priority,” San Jose Fire Chief Robert Sapien, Jr. told KRON4. “I want to assure the public that the Fire Captain is no longer employed with the San José Fire Department and had not been on duty since his last shift on March 31, 2024. No criminal activity is tolerable in our service and the types of crimes described by the charges are beyond a betrayal of public trust and are particularly reprehensible when committed by someone sworn to public service.”

“We are cooperating fully with law enforcement criminal investigators, and are prepared to initiate an internal investigation, the scope of which will be defined as information is obtained. The City seeks to maintain transparency and will provide information as soon as legally possible and once doing so would not compromise an active investigation,” said Sapien, Jr.

Parker’s last day at the San Jose Fire Department was March 31, said the newspaper. Parker resigned from his job on April 12 after being placed on administrative leave. Parker began working for the SJFD in 2008.

Parker is set to appear in court on Wednesday morning.

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