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Deputy to be back on duty after alleged Facebook rant against teen

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — WFTV talked to an Osceola County deputy who will back on duty following a 120-hour suspension for a Facebook rant against a teenager.

Deputy Keith Eden is on his last day of suspension after posting threatening comments on a 14-year-old's Facebook page.

The teenager is Eden's girlfriend's son. In the posts, Eden suggested the teen to quote "kill himself," followed by several curse words.

According to the sheriff's office own internal investigation, Eden went too far when he told a 14-year-old, "do us all a favor and kill yourself, you piece of ****."

Eden made the comment in reaction to a post which read, "I hope you know you ruined my family......It ends with, one more thing **** the police *****!!!!!!"

Eden will be back on patrol on Friday.

WFTV's Melonie Holt talked to the deputy about what led up to the incident and his return to duty.

On Thursday, in response to the internal review, Eden told WFTV he, among other things, simply made a mistake.

"Our agency doesn't condone his actions. That's the reason an internal investigation was conducted," said Twis Lizasuain, spokeswoman for the Osceola County Sheriff's Office.

Eden told WFTV he knows his girlfriend's son and ex-husband hate him. He said he allowed them to get the best of him and if he had to do it all over again he would ignore them.

Eden's girlfriend still isn't convinced the Facebook insults that launched the verbal battle were even written by her teenaged son. But, her ex-husband told WFTV his step-son was wrong for making the post and so was Eden.

"He was in the wrong, "OK," said Melvin Salaiz, "But as adults, should be an adult."

The teen's stepfather, Salaiz also said his stepson suffers from depression and he believes the deputy's suspension for unbecoming conduct and unsatisfactory performance was a slap on the wrist.

"For one policy, it was the maximum so that's very serious," said Lizasuain.

Eden's been with the sheriff's office for six years. Most of his performance reviews have been satisfactory. However, he was reprimanded for failure to report missing property, and a violation as he took a woman to jail.