Arrest warrant details encounters between 17-year-old girl, ex-JSO officer accused of child sex crimes
News4JAX is learning more details about the sex crime investigation involving a 17-year-old girl that led to the arrest of a 34-year-old now former officer with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. Josue Garriga, a 34-year-old former officer with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, has been arrested on several charges related to child sex crimes. The Clay County Sheriff's Office received a call from a concerned mother on March 3 from whom she found inappropriate communications between her daughter and Garriga. The mother found texts in her daughter's phone from someone named "Sway" and found messages exchanged on WhatsApp. The church pastor confirmed Garriga was Garriga and said he saw flirtatious behavior between the teen and Garrigas while working together at the church's coffee bar. The teen told detectives that Garriga had been aware of her age and knew she was in high school.
Published : 4 weeks ago by Kendra Mazeke in General
CLAY COUNTY, Fla. – News4JAX is learning more details about the sex crime investigation involving a 17-year-old girl that led to the arrest of a 34-year-old now former officer with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
According to the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, Josue Garriga is facing several charges, including unlawful sexual action with a minor, lewd and lascivious touching, and the transmission of harmful material to a minor.
The sheriff’s office said it received a call on March 3 from a concerned mother, who said she found inappropriate communications between her daughter and a man, who was identified as Garriga.
The mom found texts in her daughter’s phone from someone called “Sway,” an arrest report said. The report said the mother called the number from her daughter’s phone and a man picked up. When she identified herself as the teen’s mother, the man hung up.
Then the mother also found messages exchanged on WhatsApp. The mother told deputies she recalled hearing the name “Sway” mentioned at church sometime in September or October 2023. The report said the mother talked with the church pastor who confirmed “Sway” was Garriga and told her he noticed flirtatious behavior between the teen and Garriga while the two worked together at the church’s coffee bar.
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The pastor told deputies that he did not “hear any explicit communications” when he saw Garriga and the teen working at the bar. But he did say it was “unwise communications” because Garriga is married and has a child, according to the report.
The pastor said he also spoke to Garriga and asked him not to volunteer with the teen. The report said Garriga agreed.
That’s when the mother called the CCSO, sparking the investigation. When detectives spoke to the teen, she said she met Garriga at church and he followed her on Instagram from an undercover account. They also exchanged phone numbers.
The teen said her communications with Garriga began as “friendly conversations,” but then Garriga started to “hit on her” and make her feel uncomfortable, the report said.
The report said she told detectives that Garriga was aware of her age and knew she was in high school.
Garriga suggested they talk on WhatsApp, where they exchanged lewd photos, according to the report.
She said he would come to her neighborhood in a black car with a police radio, and she would sneak out to see him at night.
The report said their most recent encounter was at a coffee shop in Orange Park where they kissed in Garriga’s truck and, according to the report, he pressured her to do other sexual things.
The report also described other incidents between the two, but News4JAX is not sharing the graphic details of the report.
Topics: Crime