A MIramar officer arrested for alleged sex with a minor may not have known her real age, but legally had to be arrested regardless. Police say that the girl lied about her age, NBC6’s Jamie Guirola reports.
A Miramar Police officer has been arrested after he was accused of having sex with a 17-year-old girl, authorities said.
Jose Robell Hernandez, 28, was arrested Thursday on charges of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, an arrest report said.
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According to a warrant, the teen met Hernandez through the dating app Tinder, where she said in her profile that she was 23 years old.
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Hernandez and the teen went on three dates in March, and the third ended at a hotel in Hialeah where they had sex, the warrant said.
Police learned of the incident in April when the teen called police while she "appeared to be suffering a mental health crisis," the warrant said.
An officer searching for information on the teen's parents was given consent to search her phone and found text messages between the teen and Hernandez that suggested they'd had a sexual relationship, the warrant said.
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At one point, before they'd had sex, the girl sent Hernandez a voice note saying she'd lied about her age on Tinder and lied again, claiming "I'm about to be 19," the warrant said.
After the sexual encounter, the two exchanged text messages and at one point, Hernandez called her and asked if she lied about her age, the warrant said.
"He told her he was in trouble, and he was going to lose his job," the warrant said.
Police later confirmed that the girl was 17 at the time of the sexual encounter, the warrant said.
Hernandez was booked into the Miami-Dade jail. Attorney information wasn't available.
In a statement, Miramar Police Chief Delrish Moss said Hernandez, who has been with the department since February 2020, was relieved of duty without pay.
"Regretfully, one of our officers has been arrested by the Hialeah Police Department on very serious charges. While it is important to respect the presumption of innocence of every person accused of a crime, he has been relieved of his duties without pay pending the developments of this case," Moss' statement read. "I want to express my deepest sympathies to the victim and all those impacted by these events. Our thoughts are with them, and we are committed to supporting them and ensuring that justice is served."
Moss added that his department is fully cooperating with Hialeah Police.
"Incidents such as this can damage the public’s trust in law enforcement, but I want to assure you that we are committed to upholding the law and serving our community with integrity and respect," Moss said.
In a statement Friday, Tinder said they'd removed both profiles from their platform.
"Tinder works hard to vigilantly maintain an adults only community of members who are 18+. We use a network of industry-leading automated and manual moderation and review tools, systems and processes — and invest significant resources — to keep minors off and remove them from our app, and prevent other inappropriate behavior," the statement read. "We also depend on our users to report any profiles that may depict a minor, so that we can investigate and remove, accordingly. We constantly evaluate and refine our processes to prevent underage access, and will always work with law enforcement, where possible, to protect our members."
