A Florida police officer has been suspended for having sex with a woman just days after arresting her alleged domestic abuser, according to reports.
Daytona Beach Officer Johnathon Jackson will serve a five-day suspension for the “unprofessional relationship” he started with a 41-year-old woman, four days after busting her Florida Highway Patrol trooper boyfriend for aggravated battery, according to internal affairs documents obtained by the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
The unidentified woman alleged that Jackson “lied to her, victimized her [and] took advantage of her while in a vulnerable state” when the pair had sex less than a week after he arrested her then-boyfriend Patrick Hildebrandt in connection with a domestic violence call in July 2019, according to the internal affairs probe.
Jackson first went to the woman’s beachfront condo after she reported the assault. Hildebrandt had left the residence before Jackson arrived, but was arrested at his job days later, according to the report.
After the arrest, Jackson asked the woman out on a date “to make up for what happened on her birthday” with her boyfriend, the report states, according to the News-Journal.
The woman told investigators she agreed, but said she was concerned about letting the officer into her home.
“She said she didn’t know if she was going to get arrested, didn’t know what Jackson’s motive was, as he lied, and she was afraid, so she gave him whatever him [sic] wanted,” the report said.
Jackson, for his part, told investigations that he wanted to start a personal relationship with the woman because he felt “they had built a rapport with each other” and due to unspecified personal issues in his life, the newspaper reports.
Jackson was off duty at the time he went to the woman’s home. The pair had sex on a convertible couch-bed after getting beers from a 7-Eleven nearby. The woman initiated contact as they watched television, according to the report.
The officer, who denied contacting the woman for sex, claimed he only intended to watch television with her, but she “forced the issue and he went along with it,” the report states.
“He advised that he knew what he was doing was wrong but didn’t know why he didn’t stop their actions prior to intercourse,” the document states.
The sexual encounter with Jackson led prosecutors to not file a felony charge of aggravated battery against Hildebrandt, who resigned from the Florida Highway Patrol for personal reasons weeks after the incident, department officials told the newspaper.
No evidence was found that Jackson used his official position to “manipulate or take advantage” of the woman, who was characterized by investigators as a willing participant in the encounter, the newspaper reports.
Jackson, who currently earns $45,395 as a school resource officer, has been an officer since May 2016. No other women have made similar allegations against him during his time as a cop, investigators said.
Jackson declined to talk about the encounter when reached for comment, WFTV reports.