A Florida police officer has been arrested for allegedly providing four teenage girls with cannabis and alcohol and engaging in and filming sex acts with them, authorities said.
The Polk County Sheriff's Office said that on May 8, the Bartow Police Department requested their assistance investigating one of their officers, 24-year old Markanthony Fernandez, after he shared videos of the alleged inappropriate conduct with other officers, who reported him to supervisors.
The events allegedly recorded on video occurred on the weekend of Feb. 3. Two 18-year-old women, one 17-year-old girl and one 16-year-old girl were in Fernandez's residence, where he allegedly provided them with alcohol, THC vape pens and THC gummies, according to the sheriff's office.
In the videos, one 18-year-old can be seen wearing a Bartow PD jacket while the 17-year-old performed a sex act on the 18-year-old "at the urging of Fernandez." Multiple videos shows the teens naked with Fernandez.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said Fernandez allegedly told the teens he was aroused by choking, and allegedly choked one of the 18-year-olds until she passed out. Fernandez allegedly held the 17-year-old's neck so tightly she became scared, Grady said.
Fernandez also went into a bedroom where the 16-year-old was, and began to touch and choke her.
Fernandez has been on paid administrative leave since February, and refused to resign, but his termination is now pending based on his arrest.
"We do very in-depth background checks, psychological screening, just try and make sure we're picking the right candidates, but obviously it's not perfect and people change," Bartow Police Deputy Chief Stephen Walker said.
"This guy is a bad guy," Judd said. "He fooled his way into the system, and then he acted like a fool and he got arrested, and I'm happy about that."
Fernandez was booked into Polk County Jail on Tuesday on felony charges of promotion of a juvenile in a sexual performance, use of a juvenile in a sexual performance, battery by strangulation, and illegal use of a two-way communication device, along with two misdemeanor counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and four misdemeanor counts of providing alcoholic beverages to a person under 21.
"Markanthony Fernandez has embarrassed his community, police department, and law enforcement officers everywhere. In contrast, his fellow officers at Bartow Police Department did the right thing by reporting his conduct. Markanthony Fernandez must never wear a badge again," Judd said in a statement.
--with reporting by TMX
