OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez is accused of making a lewd comment about a nude picture of a civilian employee.
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9 Investigates confirmed former deputy Alex Valentin received a nude picture from a young female civilian employee in the spring of 2022.
Former deputy Samantha Sanchez was dating Valentin at the time when she says she found the photo of another woman on his phone. She says she also found text conversations between Valentin and Sheriff Marcos Lopez about the photo.
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She took a screenshot of that alleged conversation and later reported it to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
The allegations will now be discussed in evidentiary hearings as Sanchez fights for her job back.
Sanchez was accused of lying about her whereabouts when she was running late to work.
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However, she feels her termination was retaliatory after another deputy learned she had screenshots of the inappropriate text conversation her ex-boyfriend allegedly had with Sheriff Marcos Lopez.
“My immediate thought process was to confront Alex,” Sanchez told WFTV about her reaction after finding texts on her then-boyfriend’s phone.
9 Investigates confirmed Deputy Alex Valentin received a nude photograph from another civilian employee at the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office.
Sanchez said she took a screenshot that she says shows Valentin sharing the photo with his friend and boss, Sheriff Lopez.
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Instead of condemning it, Sanchez told 9 Investigates that Lopez did the opposite - stating quote “I’d f the crap out of her.” The screenshot Sanchez appears to show Valentin responding “Yes, she’s hot” and the Sheriff responding “Si.”
Sanchez said she immediately confronted Valentin on what she found on his phone.
“He told me that the Sheriff was aware that this female liked him, and the Sheriff had interest in seeing her nude,” Sanchez said.
Sharing a nude photo of another person without that individual’s consent is a first-degree misdemeanor in Florida. However, the woman depicted in the photo declined to press charges.
“The Sheriff witnessed Alex commit a crime. And no, no punishment, no punishment, no report,” Sanchez said. “He’s supposed to be the role model for all other deputies. And clearly, he’s not.” Sanchez said. “So, you know, how do you have that? How do you have a sheriff that can’t be alone in the room with employees?”
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Over a year after she found the text conversation, Sanchez said she confided in a female deputy about what she found on his phone and her relationship with Valentin. Days after that conversation, Valentin confronted her at work about the screenshot.
“He said that because the sheriff had heard that there was a screenshot on my phone of their conversation, and he wanted Alex to go through my phone to either find it and delete it, or confirm if that was true,” Sanchez said.
This past February, Sanchez was terminated and was accused of violating the “truthfulness” policy.
She told Channel 9 that the Sheriff’s Office looked for a reason to fire her and found something that she claims was not a reason to terminate her.
“I think it was just me running late. Honestly, I gave a cross street about a mile away from my exact location. And I wasn’t immediately at that intersection,” Sanchez said. “I believe that I was targeted.”
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The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement in part “Multiple IT specialists have looked at this photograph and have serious concerns about its authenticity. The validity and possible political motivations of these allegations will be examined thoroughly, and any allegations of misconduct will be addressed appropriately.”
9 Investigates spoke by phone with the woman depicted in the nude photograph.
She confirmed she sent the photo to the deputy and FDLE did speak to her. Again, she declined to press charges against Valentin, however; she said this is the first she learned the sheriff responded to that image. She said she is shocked and unhappy with Lopez’s alleged response and disappointed in how the Sheriff’s Office handled the situation.
Valentin was arrested in July 2023 after Sanchez says she reported the abuse. He faces six domestic violence related charges in Orange County and is set to stand trial later this month. He was terminated from the Sheriff’s Office the same month he was arrested.
FDLE has not confirmed the status of their investigation at this time.
9 Investigates reached out to Valentin by phone but did not hear back.
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