OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez’s office cited his “already busy schedule” as the reason he couldn’t interview with Channel 9 Eyewitness News about accusations against him.
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This leaves Channel 9—at least for now—unable to ask the sheriff questions we know the public wants answered.
On Wednesday, his office said he would have time to talk after he denied lying in a WDBO interview.
In the March interview, he claimed the photo he accidentally posted to his Instagram was not the body of Madeline Soto, the 13-year-old Kissimmee girl whose body was found in a wooded area near St. Cloud days after being reported missing.
State Attorney Andrew Bain sent a letter to Lopez on July 8 questioning the Sheriff’s credibility and truthfulness and noting the WDBO interview. WDBO is WFTV’s radio partner.
Before Lopez’s interview with WDBO, the State Attorney’s Office said Lopez told investigators under oath, as well as the Kissimmee Police Chief, that the picture he accidentally posted was, in fact, that of Soto’s body.
The Sheriff claimed in a statement Wednesday that the state “misinterpreted” this quote:
“As for the photo, there was an apology issued, but it wasn’t actually the body. It was an area of interest where there was a body found. And, no one came out directly and said it was the victim,” Lopez said in the WDBO interview.
Read: Sheriff Marcos Lopez accused of violating Florida record law
The Sheriff said in a statement responding to Bain’s letter, “the photograph showed clothing, but identifying features of a body were not visible. The Sheriff’s statement was not a lie nor was it untruthful.”
Over the past three days, Eyewitness News has sent nine emails requesting a time to meet with the Sheriff.
The Sheriff’s Office even said in an email Wednesday he was available to talk Thursday and Friday.
Read: Osceola Sheriff Marcos Lopez responds to accusations of sending inappropriate text
But still, there’s been no interview with Channel 9.
Some of our questions include:
- How could his statement to WDBO be misconstrued by the State?
- Has the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office actually launched an internal investigation into the Sheriff’s truthfulness, as the State Attorney requested? And if so, did it start before the State Attorney asked?
“The Sheriff needs to be forthcoming and clarify his statements, and the best way to do that is in an internal investigation,” said law enforcement expert Bill Moore.
Moore explained how a truthfulness violation is a terminable offense in law enforcement.
“The deputies are looking at this as if I did this, I would be probably fired and definitely investigated by internal affairs and some kind of violations sustained either standards of conduct, falsification of records or statements,” Moore said.
Bain says if the Sheriff does not conduct this investigation or request FDLE to investigate, the State Attorney’s office will make its own determination based on the evidence it already has on whether Lopez should be added to a list of officers with alleged misconduct.
See the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office’s statements below:
July 26
Hello,
I am very sorry for not responding to your request sooner. We had a plethora of requests coming in and we made appointments as soon as possible around the Sheriff’s already busy schedule.
We thank you for your patience and will direct you to our prior written statement on the matter.
Very respectfully,
SHERIFF MEDIA
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July 24
Yesterday, the State Attorney’s Office released a letter regarding a photograph inadvertently disclosed by the Sheriff. Sheriff Lopez initially received this photograph because our agency first found Madeline Soto’s body and a photo of the scene was sent to the Sheriff, per protocol. The photograph was inadvertently posted in a photo array about a senior citizen event and was taken down within 10 minutes of realizing the error. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigated this incident and found no intentional wrongdoing. The State still decided to file a civil citation. The Sheriff accepts and understands the civil fine being brought by the State. However, the State calling the Sheriff’s integrity and credibility into question is not right. The State has misinterpreted a quote from the Sheriff explaining what the photograph depicted. The photograph showed clothing, but identifying features of a body were not visible. The Sheriff’s statement was not a lie nor was it untruthful.
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