A Miramar Officer arrested last year for having sex with a 17-year-old girl he met on Tinder pleaded guilty Wednesday to an aggravated child abuse charge.
Jose Hernandez, 30 was initially charged with having sex with a minor, which is a felony charge, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor charge.
As part of a plea deal, Hernandez pleaded guilty to an aggravated child abuse charge and was sentenced to 10 years of probation.
The deal also forces him to give up his police certification and he must stay away from the victim.
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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.
Hernandez and the teen went on three dates in March of 2023, and the third ended at a hotel in Hialeah where they had sex, the warrant said.
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Police learned of the incident in April 2023 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.
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.
In a statement last year, Miramar Police Chief Delrish Moss said Hernandez, who had 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."
