Miramar police officer arrested after being accused of underage sex with teen in Hialeah
MIAMI -- An officer with the Miramar Police Department was arrested by Hialeah police after he was accused of having sex with a 17-year-old girl, according to a police report.
Jose Hernandez, 28, who was hired by Miramar police in February 2020, has been charged with unlawful sexual activity with a minor and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to the police case warrant.
Hernandez was released from jail after posting an $8,000 bond, according to court records.
The bond court judge had strong words for Hernandez, ordering him to have no contact whatsoever with the victim in this case.
"Listen to me very carefully, you are to have no contact with the victim," she said. "That means no calling or texting or use of electronic messages or social media."
Hernandez replied, "Yes, ma'am," to the order.
According to the police report from the case, Hernandez was engaged to be married.
In a written statement, Miramar Police Chief Delrish Moss said: "Regretfully, one of our officers has been arrested by the Hialeah Police Department on very serious charges. While it is important to respect the presumption of innocence of every person accused of a crime, he has been relieved of his duties without pay pending the developments of this case.
"I want to express my deepest sympathies to the victim and all those impacted by these events," Moss said. "Our thoughts are with them, and we are committed to supporting them and ensuring that justice is served."
Miami Gardens police were called to meet the girl on April 13 after she called 911 about a garbage bag she came across while out walking a dog, according to the police report.
The girl told police she believed a dead body was inside the bag, which officers concluded was not the case. Her behavior, however, raised concern among the responding police.
"When officers arrived, they saw the victim screaming erratically and pointing at a garbage bag," the police warrant says. "Officers inspected the garbage bag and determined there was no deceased body and that the victim appeared to be suffering a mental health crisis. The victim appeared dirty, frantic, and unkempt. The victim said she was not taking her medication."
One of the officers asked the girl for her parents' information and she gave them her phone, the report says.
One of the officers saw that she had been communicating via text with Hernandez, and that those messages suggested the two had been involved in a sexual relationship. One of the text messages revolved around if the officer had impregnated the teen, according to the court documents.
The Miami Gardens officer found a picture of Hernandez in his Miramar police uniform, according to the arrest warrant.
During an interview with Miami Garden police on April 26, the teen told investigators she met the officer on Tinder, an online dating app, where she had created a dating profile that listed her age as 23.
According to the arrest warrant, the girl never told Hernandez her true age and at one point he asked her if she had lied about her age.
The two met on at least three occasions, having sex at least once on March 30 at a Hialeah hotel, according to the police warrant.
The relationship between the two soon soured and they stopped communicating except for a call on May 23 when Hernandez asked the girl about her age.
"He told her he was in trouble, and he was going to lose his job," the police report says. "The victim said the subject did not ask her to become uncooperative with law enforcement, he did not threaten her or say anything of the sort. The victim hung up on him."
Former Broward Assistant State Attorney Maria Schneider told CBS News MIami's Peter D'Oench that "ignorance of a victim's age is not a defense to this charge. This is equivalent to what we call statutory rape."
She also had a warning about social media.
"Anyone who is a engaging with anyone online or any other manner has to be very careful," Schneider said. "There are people out there who misrepresent their age or what they do for a living and misrepresent what their interests are. It is a buyer beware situation."
She had a specific warning for those who work in law enforcement.
"Anyone who is a police officer who is trained in this kind of activity and who is trained in what the law is should be particularly careful in dealing with someone else," Schneider said.
