WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – A Bartow police officer was arrested on Tuesday, accused of having an inappropriate relationship with four teenage females.
Markanthony Fernandez, 24, is accused of having sexual contact with two 18-year-old women, as well as a 17-year-old and a 16-year-old.
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Detectives say he was sharing Snapchat videos of girls in different stages of undress at work, and he recorded at least one video of one of the teens performing a sex act at the direction of Fernandez on one of the 18-year-olds who was wearing a Bartow police jacket.
Investigators also say he was giving the victims marijuana gummies and alcohol at parties, and performed other sex acts with the victims. Fernandez was also accused of going into a bedroom at his Lake Wales house where the 16-year-old was and began to touch her and choke her.
Once the Bartow Police Department determined the actions happened outside the department’s jurisdiction, the case was transferred to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff Grady Judd said Fernandez met at least one of the girls on social media and was then introduced to the others.
Fernandez was arrested and is on paid administrative leave pending the results of the investigation.
“It’s very disappointing,” said Bartow Police Deputy Chief Stephen Walker. “We do very in-depth background checks, psychological screening, just try and make sure we’re picking the right candidates, but obviously it’s not perfect and people change.”
Fernandez was first hired by the Bartow Police Department in September 2020. He went to work for the sheriff’s office in October 2021 and then returned to the police department in December 2022.
“This guy is a bad guy,” Sheriff Grady Judd said. “He fooled his way into the system, and then he acted like a fool and he got arrested, and I’m happy about that. He was stupid enough to do it, then he was really stupid to video, then he was really stupid to show it to his colleagues at work who said, ‘timeout.’ They’re professionals. So you play stupid, stupid, stupid games, you win stupid, stupid, stupid prizes.”
Fernandez was booked into the Polk County Jail and charged with promotion of a juvenile in a sexual performance, use of a juvenile in a sexual performance, battery by strangulation, illegal use of a two-way communication device, contributing to the delinquency of a minor (two counts), and providing alcoholic beverages to a person under 21 years of age (four counts).