Sheriff's Sergeant Fired After Amber Alert, Arrest

A St. John's Sheriff's Office spokeswoman lost her job after failing to show up for a pre-disciplinary meeting following her arrest on an interference with child custody charge.

The Florida Times-Union reports 37-year-old Catherine Payne was fired Monday.

She was already on leave when she was arrested Oct. 21 after an Amber Alert was issued for her 6-year-old son. Officials say she'd taken the boy from school without having legal custody. She was with him at a restaurant when the alert was issued and waited there for deputies.

Payne told the newspaper the arrest is being used to discredit her after she filed an internal affairs complaint about sexual harassment and discrimination over the summer.

The sheriff's office released an internal affairs investigation listing six violations of company policy.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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