OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – A former Osceola County deputy was sentenced to 60 days in jail after warning a child sex suspect of an arrest warrant earlier this year.
Arturo Dominguez was fired when he tipped off Omar Ayala, a high school teacher accused of having sex activity with a minor, about an arrest warrant.
According to court documents, Dominguez pleaded guilty to charges of official misconduct and accessory after the fact.
During the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office’s investigation, it was revealed Dominguez had run Ayala’s name repeatedly in their system. A detective with the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office submitted a complaint about Dominguez after asking questions about Ayala and finding discrepancies in his responses.
“What we discovered through the investigation is Deputy Dominguez is a lifelong childhood friend of this individual here. He was running Ayala’s name to see if he had a warrant in the system. He wanted to give his friend a heads up so Ayala would know if the police were looking for him,” Sheriff Marcos Lopez said in a June news conference.
Dominguez will also serve three years probation following his release.
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