A city police corporal has resigned after an internal investigation found he posted a sexually explicit ad on the Internet about a local woman without her knowledge.
Cpl. Nick Massaro stepped down rather than face disciplinary action for using a department computer to post the ad on Craigslist -- including the woman's name, picture and phone number, but without her knowledge or consent.
The woman is not being identified because of the nature of the case.
"He's been with us a long time and he's done a good job, but he failed with his mistake," said Chief Arthur Jones.
In 2007, Massaro, now 25, was named Bunnell Police Department's officer of the year. His four-year record with the department shows a string of commendations as well as disciplinary actions for neglect of duty and court absences.
Three complaints filed were found either unsupported or withdrawn, records show. The State Attorney's Office concluded this latest activity wasn't criminal, Jones said.
"Our job is to serve and protect and in serving and protecting, we should put the people first, satisfy the people first," Jones added. "He didn't put this girl first."
A seven-week internal investigation was launched in December into Massaro's alleged misconduct after Bunnell police received a complaint, Jones said.
The woman -- a friend of Massaro's wife -- told investigators that she began receiving text messages and phone calls Nov. 30 from several unknown men about an ad she never posted in the casual encounters section of the online classifieds Web site, according to the report from Bunnell police.
After flagging the ad for removal, Craigslist informed the woman that it had been placed from an Internet Protocol address belonging to the Flagler County Sheriff's Office using an e-mail confirmed by Massaro's wife as his own.
The woman said Massaro might not have approved of her friendship with his wife.
Massaro initially denied the claim but later confessed that he and another couple posted the ad as a joke and "not malicious in nature," the report states. He resigned Tuesday.
"This was a very scary experience for me and I was seriously afraid for my well-being," the woman wrote in an e-mail to Jones. "This was not a funny prank, but a very dangerous situation for me."
The woman told Sheriff's Office investigators that she had to change her e-mail address, phone number and social network information and was afraid for her safety in public.
The investigation also found that Massaro used the state driver and vehicle database to run searches for personal use and that he used department resources to view personal e-mail and pornography.
Massaro contended that the pornographic Web sites were from spam e-mails received while checking personal e-mail on his department-issued computer.
"He said himself that he made a mistake, but that he will learn from his mistake and move forward," Jones said.
Investigators recommended Massaro's termination for moral failure and department violations, but Massaro resigned after admitting misconduct and apologizing for its effect on his family and the department.
"We're not going to compromise the professional standards and bar that we set for our officers," said City Manager Armando Martinez. "Conduct of this sort will be dealt with swiftly, fairly and severely."
No comments:
Post a Comment