CLERMONT, Fla. -- A Central Florida deputy is accused of soliciting three teen girls for porn videos after meeting them through a program designed to catch businesses that illegally sell tobacco products to juveniles, authorities announced Wednesday.
- Jose Rodriguez arrested at Clermont home
- He worked a side job enforcing tobacco laws
- Deputy admitted recruiting girls for side job
Lake County Sheriff's Office Deputy Jose Rodriguez was arrested Tuesday night at his Clermont home. He is being held at the Lake County Jail on a $60,000 bond.
Rodriguez, a patrol deputy for four years, was charged with three counts of solicitation to commit sexual performance by a child, the Sheriff's Office said.
His alleged activities took place from 2016 to 2019. The girls were between 16 to 17 years old at the time.
In early March, a woman reported a deputy's alleged inappropriate conduct with underage girls while off duty to the Clermont Police Department.
The allegations, in turn, were forwarded to the Lake County Sheriff's Office. It immediately launched an investigation.
"During the course of the investigation, detectives learned that Rodriguez met several teenage girls while on duty as a patrol deputy in the Minneola area," the Sheriff's Office said in a statement.
Investigators say he then recruited the girls to work with him at his secondary, off-duty job as a compliance inspector for ISN Corporation. The Sheriff's Office said that business contracts with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to verify compliance with state tobacco laws.
"The teenagers were used to attempt to make undercover purchases of tobacco products at businesses in the Central Florida area," the Sheriff's Office said. "Three females who met Rodriguez while on duty reported to detectives that he offered them an opportunity to make pornographic videos for money."
During an interview with detectives, Rodriguez confirmed his employment with ISN Corporation and said he recruited teenagers for that job while on duty as a deputy. He would not answer additional questions.
