A South Miami Police detective who served as a coordinator for the department's explorer program is facing multiple child pornography charges after allegedly having inappropriate interactions with underage female cadets, authorities said.
Det. Joe Mendez, 47, was arrested on eight counts of possession of sexual performance by a child and four counts of selling, giving or serving alcohol to a person under 21, according to release Tuesday from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Mendez was arrested without incident and booked into the Broward County Jail on $42,000 bond. He bonded out on Tuesday evening, skipping extradition to Miami-Dade.
Mendez mumbled obscenities as he walked out of jail and said, "I have no comment. Talk to my attorney, Doug Hartman." He then added, "They know who I am. They know I didn't do anything."
"We're very proud of the police officers who are out there doing what they're supposed to be doing and a day like this is a sad day because we're such a positive and really great police department," South Miami Police Sgt. Henry Guzman said. "We try to always show professionalism at all times, it's something that we don't condone."
The South Miami Police Department requested that FDLE investigate Mendez in June 2014 after a fellow explorer program adviser filed a complaint of misconduct, authorities said.
The allegations claimed Mendez had "inappropriate interactions" with multiple underage female cadets and that the interactions "may have been sexual in nature," the release said.
Local
According to an arrest warrant, Mendez had picked up one of the cadets and told her they were going to play a game called "dare double dare." He dared her to flash him her breast but she said she wasn't comfortable doing that, so Mendez told her she'd have to drink, the report said.
Mendez then bought the girl wine and told her to drink a bottle, but she refused, the report said. He asked her to kiss him but she refused again, the report said.
On another occasion he bought an alcoholic mud slide drink pouch and gave it to two of the girls, the report said.
During one training day in June 2014, Mendez showed one of the cadets a photo of a naked female on his phone, the report said.
When officers searched Mendez's phone last month, they found 31 images showing undressed girls under age 18, the report said. Eight of the images showed sexual performances by children, the warrant said.
The explorer program gives high school and college students "an insight into a career in law enforcement," according to their website. Students must be between 14 and 20, pass an oral board interview and have "good moral character," the website says.
Mendez coordinated the program from 2009-2014. Authorities believe there may be additional victims and they're asking anyone with information to call FDLE at 800-226-3023.
"I'm a law-abiding citizen, I worked hard for my city and here I am, based on whatever happened," Mendez said walking out of jail on Tuesday, and then hinted at being setup by other officers who might have a grudge.
