CLEARWATER, Fla. - A Pinellas County Sheriff's deputy is out of
a job, accused of inappropriate conduct while interviewing a 17-year-old
alleged sexual assault victim then not properly filing a report.
Deputy Paul Martin was a 25-year veteran of the sheriff's
office, but he had a list of disciplinary problems.
"I'm not going to tolerate it," said Pinellas County
Sheriff Bob Gualtieri. "I'm not going to have it. This is the third issue
since 2011."
The latest case involved the interview of a 17-year-old alleged
rape victim. The sheriff said Deputy Martin asked the victim sexually
inappropriate questions that had nothing to do with the case.
"He engaged in really what was horrendous conduct, totally
inappropriate conduct."
Some of the questions were so dirty we were unable to repeat
them on television. The victim later testified the detective's interview
techniques were "awkward, weird, rude and uncomfortable..." making
her "lose respect" for the detective.
"She mentioned somehow that she was with a friend going to
Busch Gardens and he turns that into, 'Are you into girls and into lesbian
sex?'" said Gualtieri.
According to the report, when questioning the victim about
exchanging money for sex, he said, "Sounds like my ex-wife," and was
also overheard by the victim saying he enjoyed going "to strip
clubs."
The final straw was when a child protection investigator
reported seeing the detective reach out to lift up the girl's shirt after she
reported intentionally cutting herself years ago.
Martin said he was intentionally trying to make the victim feel
uncomfortable so she'd tell the truth. The sheriff's office said he overstepped
interview boundaries and violated agency policy.