Officer on duty amid suspicion

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Another corrupt cop from Florida. I wonder how many cops and government officials country wide are sex offenders? It appears to be a lot!

04/21/2007

Edmonds, charged with sexual chats with girl, also was set to marry today

OCALA - Even though Matthew Wayne Edmonds continued working as an Ocala police officer months after he was suspected of engaging in sexually explicit online conversations with a young girl, investigators were keeping a close eye on him before arresting him Thursday.

The 32-year-old has been charged with obscene communication and transmission of harmful material to a minor. He has been released from the Marion County Jail on $4,000 bond.

The Star-Banner has also learned that Edmonds was scheduled to be married today. And in another development, prosecutors say the veteran officer has worked on various sex cases - but they are not worried, despite the fact that two cases have not yet gone to trial.

Ocala Deputy Police Chief Greg Graham said Friday his department was notified in late December or sometime in January by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which was investigating the complaint. Graham said one of the department's concerns was whether the police department's computer system was being used in the alleged solicitation of a 14-year-old girl and whether any criminal behavior took place while Edmonds was on duty.

"We've been assured by FDLE that none of the contact made by him was from our computer system," Graham said.

Ocala police did their own investigation by "monitoring his computer activity," Graham said. The deputy chief said, as far as he knows, nothing was detected on Edmonds' police computer. To make sure, Ocala police have asked FDLE agents "to take Edmonds' work computer," Graham said.

Edmonds, who cannot be reached for comment, was due to be married today. According to Graham, the ceremony has been canceled.

Edmonds' brother-in-law, Sgt. Thomas Calhoun, who is a Marion County sheriff's deputy, said he couldn't speak for the family and declined further comment.

Edmonds' 24-year-old fiancee could not be reached for comment.

Records show a marriage license was issued to the couple April 17 at the Marion County Courthouse. The license will expire June 19 unless the couple get married.

Edmonds is suspended without pay pending the outcome of the FDLE investigation. Once that is completed, an internal affairs investigation will be conducted by the police.

He was arrested Thursday by FDLE agents at his home after a search warrant was issued in the morning and they took possession of his personal computer.

Waiving his rights, Edmonds reportedly admitted to "inappropriate sexual dialogue" and said "he used poor judgment," an arrest report noted. He also said he did not know his conduct was illegal.
- Even he should know to keep your mouth shut and let the law prove you guilty. NEVER ADMIT GUILT, even if you did it.

Chief Assistant State Attorney Ric Ridgway said his office knew about the case about a month ago. The State Attorney's office helped FDLE with obtaining subpoenas.

Ridgway doesn't think Edmonds' involvement in the police work in unrelated sex cases will hinder prosecutions.

"He may not have worked the cases but only made the arrest. Even if he worked the cases, we still have the witnesses," Ridgway said.

The only cases that could be problematic might be traffic stops because he's the only witness, Ridgway said.

The investigation began when a 14-year-old girl e-mailed FDLE's sexual predator unit after she received an instant online message from "Jeff4U2Have," saying he was a 24-year-old University of Florida student looking for a "new girl to support."

When she replied that she was only 14, the message sender replied it was "alright, as long as she didn't tell anyone." After the chat, the girl searched for "Jeff4U2Have" on MySpace.com and noticed the photo of a much older man.

Officials believe screen names "Jeff4U2Have," "ThickJeff69" and "Jeff Williams" belong to Edmonds. Using the fictitious name "Cindy Smith," a FDLE agent e-mailed "Jeff Williams" on Feb. 9.

Since that contact, both communicated at least nine times, with most of the conversations being sexual in nature, including lewd suggestions by "Jeff." The dialogue ended April 16, according to reports.

FDLE spokeswoman Kristen Perezluha said the lengthy chat string was necessary to complete the investigation. Perezluha said they'll examine Edmonds' personal computer for images of any minors or other computer chats.

Before his arrest, FDLE agents encouraged Edmonds to meet them at the Kmart shopping plaza off East Silver Springs Boulevard, which is near his home, Perezluha said.