[PHOTO CREDIT: Lake County Sheriff’s Office]
[Original Publish Date: 04/08/20]
CLERMONT, Florida — A Lake County Sheriff’s deputy has been suspended and his termination pending after he was arrested on three counts of solicitation to commit a sexual performance by a child.
According to information released by LCSO Lt. John Herrell, a female victim came forward to the Clermont Police Department in early March with allegations that Deputy Jose Rodriguez was inappropriate with underage girls while off duty. CPD forwarded the information to LCSO and an investigation began.
Rodriguez, who has been a road patrol deputy for four years, is alleged to have met several teenage girls while on duty in the Minneola area. Rodriguez would then recruit the girls to work for him at his second, off-duty job with the ISN Corporation, a contractor with the US Food and Drug Administration. The company verifies businesses’ compliance with state tobacco laws, Herrell said. The teenage girls were used to attempt to make tobacco purchases around Central Florida.
Three girls, who met Rodriguez on duty, told detectives he offered them the opportunity to make money to perform in pornographic videos from 2016 through 2019 when they were 16 and 17 years old.
Rodriguez was interviewed by detectives and he told them he did recruit the girls for his job at INS Corporation, but refused to answer any other questions, Herrell said. Rodriguez was arrested Tuesday night at his home in Clermont, and booked into the Lake County Jail. He was released $60,000 bond, Herrell said.
This is an ongoing investigation.
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Our Editor-in-Chief, Marilyn M. Aciego, began writing for Lake Legal News in 2010. Born and raised in Lake County, she is a graduate of Umatilla High School and Lake-Sumter State College. She started her journalism career at LSSC, where she was editor of both student publications, The Angler and The Odyssey. Her professional career began at the Daily Commercial in 2004 where she covered cops and courts the majority of her time there until she left in 2009. Currently, along with being Editor-in-Chief of Lake Legal News, she is the Florida bureau chief for an international media organization. She has made more than two dozen appearances on live national television, including Nancy Grace and the Greta Van Susteren show, along with her appearance on Evil Twins. Contact her with breaking news, tips, and feedback by sending an e-mail to 352Tips@gmail.com. You can also contact us on our Facebook page — and make sure you “Like” and “Follow us” there. [PHOTO CREDIT: Bonnie Whicher]
