Police officer charged after organizing 'teenage sex party' for underage girls

A Florida police officer was arrested after an investigation revealed he inappropriately invited four teenage girls to his home, filming them naked and supplying them with drugs and alcohol.

Markanthony Fernandez, 24, an officer with the Bartow Police Department in Florida, was charged Tuesday with four felonies and six misdemeanors after being investigated for his actions with four teenagers when he shared a video inappropriate with colleagues.

“It makes me excited to arrest him and put him in jail,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said at a news conference Wednesday. “This guy is a bad guy.”

The investigation, conducted by Polk County Sheriff's Office detectives at the request of Bartow police, focuses on events that occurred during the first weekend in February, which were allegedly filmed and sent to his colleagues police officers.

“Our detectives learned he had a video clip, which he shared [a] Snapchat video with people from the police. And they looked at him and said, 'Hey, these girls look underage,'” Mr. Judd said.

These agents then reported it to their superiors.

The investigation identified four women involved in the February incident, two aged 18, a 17-year-old and a 16-year-old, some of whom were captured on videos recorded by Mr. Fernandez “making the party” at his home. the sheriff's office said in a news release.

He allegedly met one of the girls online through Snapchat, and she introduced him to the other three girls, Mr Judd said.

One video showed one of the 18-year-olds wearing a Bartow PD jacket, while a 17-year-old performed a sex act on the 18-year-old “at Fernandez's request,” the sheriff's office wrote.

They also said several videos showed the alleged victim naked or in other stages of undress with Mr. Fernandez inside his residence, with the investigation further claiming he provided all four of them with l alcohol, THC vape pens, and THC candies.

Mr. Fernandez was also accused of entering a bedroom in his home where the 16-year-old girl was and began touching and choking her.

“He told one of the 18-year-olds and the 17-year-olds that he got sexually aroused by choking people. So he choked the 18-year-old unconscious. Did you hear what I said? He choked the 18-year-old unconscious,” Mr Judd said. “She said she allowed him to strangle her, but he also choked the 17-year-old girl. And she said, 'I didn't allow him to strangle me. And he choked me so muffled that it scared me.'”

Mr. Judd said all of the girls went to local high schools and the sheriff's office believes Mr. Fernandes went to a party in Frostproof with the girls, which is still under investigation.

Incarcerated at the Polk County Jail, Mr. Fernandez faces a number of charges, including promoting a minor in a sexual performance, using a minor in a sexual performance, battery by strangulation, unlawful use of a two-way communication device, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and furnishing alcoholic beverages to a person under 21 years of age.

The officer has been placed on administrative leave since February and his employment is pending termination due to his arrest.

Mr. Fernandez began working for the Bartow Police Department in September 2020 and served a one-year stint with the Polk County Sheriff's Office, before returning to the Bartow PD in December 2022, the chief said Deputy Stephen Walker during the conference.

“It’s very disappointing,” Mr Walker said. “We all wear this badge as a sign of public trust, and it’s unfortunate that someone would violate that and call it into question for the community.”

Mr. Judd said in the statement that the officer had “embarrassed his community, his police department and law enforcement officers around the world” and said he “should never wear a badge again “.