Police captain under investigation for alleged sex act during prostitution sting

FORT MYERS, Fla. – A high-ranking police officer in Florida is under investigation, accused of engaging in a sex act with a woman who was the target of an undercover sting operation involving prostitution at local massage parlors. 

A complaint filed in December against Capt. Jay Rodriguez, of the Fort Myers Police Department, accuses him of sexual contact with the woman while on duty in March 2013. Shortly after the act, she was arrested along with the owner of the massage parlor where she was working.

The (Fort Myers, Fla.) News-Press has obtained a copy of the video, dated and time-stamped, purportedly showing the officer entering the business and appearing naked with a woman in her underwear. The officer can clearly be heard commenting on the sex act. 

Attempts to reach Fort Myers Police Chief Derrick Diggs by phone and at his home were unsuccessful. 

Multiple calls to Fort Myers City Manager Saeed Kazemi were not returned. 

Stephanie Schaffer, spokeswoman for the city of Fort Myers said only, "There is an active investigation; the city cannot comment at this time." 

The complaint was filed by O'Neil Kerr, a former police officer with a contentious history with Rodriguez, who had been his supervisor. He was twice terminated from the department, including once in 2011 for a domestic violence arrest where the charges were later dropped. The arrest was later expunged from his record, according to an expungement order. Kerr was reinstated and then later sued the city.

Kerr was a detective when he was terminated in November because of a work-related injury, he said. He was on leave due to the work-related injury when the city stopped paying him, he said. 

Kerr submitted the complaint to the city on Dec. 7. Frustrated by the lack of action, he contacted the city again on Jan. 12. On Feb. 8, he supplied the city with the video. 

According to an email Kerr sent to City Attorney Grant Alley, the police chief and a councilman, Rodriguez was working with the Special Investigation Group and had been given a lanyard with a "hidden spy camera."

"Rodriguez did not know how to operate the recording device and failed to properly turn it off which captured this incident on video and audio recording," he wrote.

He said Rodriguez had requested the video be deleted but it was instead uploaded and saved.

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"(T)he booking sheet did not reflect the accurate events that occurred," Kerr wrote.
"(A)nd the evidence was not turned over to the state for proper prosecution..."

Kerr also included links to the video, the same links he supplied to The News-Press.

In a memo dated Jan. 14, before the video was provided, Capt. William Newhouse, who oversees Internal Affairs, said he needed more time to complete the investigation.

The operation in question occurred March 14, 2013, at the New Asian Massage parlor. The owner of the business, Chen Ya, was arrested and charged with living off earnings of prostitution, a third-degree felony, and driving without a license. Ma Aimian, the woman who appears in the video, was arrested for soliciting prostitution, according to a story published in The News-Press on March 16, 2013.  

Stephen Russell, state attorney at the time, declined to file charges against Ya, because of insufficient evidence, according to court records. In the case against Aimian, the Lee County (Florida) Clerk of Courts website showed no records for her and her arrest record doesn't appear on the Lee County Sheriff's Office website. 

Aimian declined to comment about the incident when contacted by a reporter Sunday. 

According to the arrest report, the officer handed Aimian $120 for a manual sex act. She told him it would cost an additional $30 for oral sex. 

After receiving the money, Aimian left the room. When she returned she "tried to remove his underwear," but he told her he would have to come back later, according to the report written by Lt. Rebecca Prince.

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But according to the video, the officer did not leave. Prince's report also does not mention that there was a secret video recording of the operation.

The copy of the video obtained by The News-Press shows the officer paying for a sex act to be performed. Aimian leaves the room with the money and the officer appears naked on the video. The woman returns and the audio clearly records the voices of the officer encouraging the woman to increase the intensity of the act. 

The video does not show Rodriguez's face at that time, nor the act. The video then records the woman getting a towel and the officer pulling on a pair of beige cargo shorts, which Rodriguez was wearing when he entered the shop on the video. 

When reached Monday, Prince, who is no longer with the department, said she didn't know anything about the investigation and declined to comment. 

When asked about the video Monday, Rodriguez said, "I have nothing to say." 

The Fort Myers Police Department has come under criticism before for not investigating allegations of criminal conduct and unethical behavior by its officers. The police department was audited in 2016 and a report was released in February 2017 by Freeh Group International Solutions detailing corruption and a toxic culture in the department. The group was paid $150,000 for the audit and continues to work with the department and Diggs to make improvements. 

A 20-year police veteran, Rodriguez has been promoted from lieutenant to captain since 2013. He also serves as a spokesman for the Fort Myers police and oversees school resource officers.

The department wouldn't say whether Rodriguez is on leave during the investigation.

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The department's Internal Affairs division first received information about the alleged incident in early December, records show. 

The allegations also surfaced in December during a confrontation between Rodriguez and Fort Myers activist Anthony Thomas during a city council meeting when Thomas questioned Rodriguez about engaging in a sex act while undercover. The interaction was witnessed by a reporter. Rodriguez threatened to sue Thomas for defamation. 

Fort Myers Councilman Johnny Streets, a former Fort Myers police officer, questioned the pace of the investigation.

"It doesn't seem like there is a sense of urgency to get to the truth of what has been committed," he said.  "Where is the sense of urgency?"

Attorney Michael Raheb, who represented the massage parlor owner, said he's not surprised by the video's existence. And he questioned why it wasn't investigated until now. 

"They aren't supposed to let it happen," Raheb said. 

Contributing: Michael Braun, The (Fort Myers, Fla.) News-Press. Follow Melissa Montoya and Melanie Payne on Twitter: @MelissaMontoyaO and @TellMel