An off-duty Broward Sheriff’s Office deputy was arrested for propositioning an undercover colleague for sex during a prostitution sting, the BSO said.
Christian Benenati, 40, offered a female undercover officer $20 in exchange for oral sex in his car Wednesday afternoon as the BSO conducted a countywide crime sweep, the South Florida Sun Sentinel first reported.
Benenati pulled up in his gray 2007 Nissan Altima alongside a woman who was actually a deputy posing as a prostitute and made the offer, according to the arrest report.
When she suggested going to a motel, he replied that he does not do rooms and suggested that they do the transaction in the car, the report said.
Benenati was charged with the misdemeanor of soliciting another person for lewdness after the incident at 1201 NW 31st Ave. in Pompano Beach, the BSO said.
He works in the BSO’s department of law enforcement and has been with the agency for a decade. He has been suspended with pay as internal affairs investigates, BSO spokesman Jim Leljedal said.
"It's always disturbing and disappointing when a law enforcement officer is accused of committing a crime. We are sworn to uphold the law and when that doesn't happen it's disappointing," Leljedal told NBC 6. "It shouldn't be a reflection on everyone. But we know that it is because law enforcement officers are held to a higher standard."
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The arrest report shows that Benenati was detained initially, but not arrested until four hours later at 1000 N. University Drive in Coral Springs, which is the address of a sports bar.
The Sun Sentinel reported Friday that Sgt. George Anthony III, the supervisor who signed Benenati's arrest report, has also been suspended with pay. Leljedal told the paper that he could not discuss the case further because of an ongoing internal affairs investigation
Benenati’s case is tentatively due to be heard by Judge Robert Diaz, but neither a court date nor the name of his attorney was available in the Broward courts’ online records system Friday.
