An Osceola County sheriff’s deputy was suspended after he contacted a woman on social media whom he previously charged with a drug-related crime, and sent her racy messages and photos over several days, according to an internal affairs report.
An investigation into Deputy Hunter Perkins began after the woman who was pulled over went to the Sheriff’s Office and told them what happened.
The incident happened back in February of 2019, when Perkins was on patrol and running drivers’ license plates around 1:30 a.m. He pulled over a woman who was driving with an expired tag.
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Documents show the driver stopped at a gas station and Perkins found 11 grams of marijuana in the car. He gave the woman a notice to appear in court.
Within an hour, investigators said Perkins looked up the woman on social media and sent her a message about the notice to appear, saying it was to “make sure she did understand.” He went on to say he “did believe she was cute, I’m not going to lie.”
The messages went from informative to sexually explicit, the investigation said. Perkins admitted nude photos were exchanged.
In August, the woman went to the Sheriff’s Office to complain. In a statement, she wrote that she thought Perkins could could make things worse for her case if she ignored him, so she played along.
Among the messages Perkins sent is a photo exposing himself, documents state, as well as photos of him hunting and working out.
During the internal affairs interview, Perkins admitted to sending the messages and said he and his wife were going through a stressful time in their marriage while she was pregnant and said he “was probably not getting the attention I was wanting.”
Perkins was suspended without pay for 16 hours, which is in line with the Sheriff’s Office’s progressive discipline policy. He has been with the Sheriff’s Office since 2017 and this was his first offense, according to the internal affairs investigation that wrapped up in December.
The state attorney’s office said it dismissed the drug charge against the woman because of the deputy’s actions.
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