(via YouTube screengrab/WOAI)
A 911 emergency dispatcher and five law enforcement officials in Texas are facing discipline — and possible termination — for allegedly engaging in inappropriate sexual relationships.
Krystle Perez, a dispatcher with the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, is at the center of the scandal. According to the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, a complaint was filed with the internal affairs department regarding Perez “having extramarital relations with several Bexar County Sheriff’s Office Law Enforcement Deputies,” a BCSO spokesperson told Law&Crime in an email on Wednesday.
An investigation followed. Perez, Deputy Juan Leal, and Sgt. Reynaldo Salinas have since been issued proposed termination notices, but they are still undergoing the appeal process and the outcome of their proposed termination is still pending, according to the BCSO spokesperson.
Three other BSCO law enforcement officers, who were not identified by the spokesperson, are also currently going through the disciplinary process.
“The investigation into this incident remains ongoing,” the spokesperson told Law&Crime.
Sheriff Javier Salazer said that the employees denied doing anything inappropriate while on duty, Local NBC affiliate WOAI reported. Spouses of two of the involved officers, however, reportedly gave both the sheriff’s office and the station text messages that indicate otherwise.
The station noted that many of the text messages “are too explicit” to share on TV.
WOAI reported that it does not appear that the law was broken, but the involved employees are alleged to have violated BCSO policies.
“Certainly, the case is being taken seriously and quite frankly, I believe it’s quite possible some people are going to lose their career as a result of this,” Salazar said, according to the station.
Giancarlo Perez, the husband of dispatcher Krystle Perez, told WOAI that he discovered texts between his wife and six sheriff’s deputies as well as a police officer for the city of Converse, located in Bexar County.
“She was the love of my life and it was very distraught, heartbreaking, I was in disbelief,” Giancarlo Perez told the station.
“They use emojis to reference body parts, they talk about kissing, making out and these sexual connections,” he added.
Although the BCSO did not identify the three additional law enforcement officials allegedly involved, WOAI reported that the wife of investigator Jason Jarvis is seeking a divorce.
“These are people that are supposed to be protecting us, serving and making sure the community is safe,” Jessica Jarvis told the news station.
The Bexar County sheriff vowed to address the action underlying the allegations.
“Misconduct, such as that described in this case, tends to undermine public trust, and will not be tolerated,” Salazar said, according to the BCSO spokesperson.
The BCSO scandal is reminiscent of the sexual misconduct scandal that gripped the police department in La Vergne, Tennessee, in which at least eight officers and employees are alleged to have engaged in unreported sexual relationships, sexual harassment, and sex while on duty. The woman at the center of that investigation, former La Vergne Police Officer Maegan Hall, has since filed a federal lawsuit alleging that she was targeted and “groomed” for sexual harassment.
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