‘We don’t cover up’: Hialeah chief defends handling of cop accused of sex abuse

Hialeah Police Chief Sergio Velázquez on Friday defended his handling of the case of Sgt. Jesús “Jesse” Menocal Jr., a decorated officer who was accused of sexual assault and abuse by four women and girls in 2015.

But after summoning the media to a news conference at Hialeah police headquarters in response to a Miami Herald investigation published online Thursday, Velázquez refused to answer questions about the allegations against Menocal. He barely mentioned the 12-year veteran cop by name, saying he did not want to endanger an ongoing federal probe into the sergeant’s alleged sexual misconduct.

“I want the public to know: Do not worry. We don’t cover up for officers,” Velázquez said. He said the Herald’s reporting, based on hundreds of pages of personnel records and investigative files, contained “misinformation.”

The Herald’s report found that Menocal — who denied the allegations but was placed on administrative assignment in 2015 — was back on active duty the next year even while state and federal criminal investigations against him remained active. He was also given a raise.

The allegations against Menocal, 31, were made beginning in June 2015. One alleged victim, just 14 years old, said Menocal forced her to perform oral sex. An adult woman said he handcuffed and sexually violated her in his police truck. Two other accusers, one a minor, also made allegations that the sergeant had stopped them and pressured them for sex. Hialeah internal affairs investigators found Menocal had brought eight additional women and girls into a Hialeah police station without filing any reports, a violation of departmental procedure.

“I understand the allegations are serious allegations and we took them as very serious allegations,” Velázquez told reporters. “A police officer is held to very high standards ... and we will continue to hold everyone to high standards.”

Menocal was sent home with pay on June 14, 2015, his personnel file shows. But by July 2016, at the latest, he was back on the street, even receiving a commendation from the chief for participating in an arrest. That was a month before the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office formally declined to charge Menocal with sexual battery, false imprisonment and unlawful compensation, citing concerns about whether the victims were sufficiently credible to sway a jury. His reinstatement also came before Velázquez sustained an internal affairs complaint in September 2016. Since then, Menocal has been under federal investigation, although he was not taken off the street and sent back to desk duty until earlier this year.

During the news conference, Velázquez said Hialeah police are cooperating with the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office on the criminal civil rights investigation into Menocal.

Velázquez said Menocal’s return to active duty in 2016 came after state prosecutors verbally told the chief they did not plan to charge the sergeant.

“When he was on the street, he was no longer facing any sexual allegations,” Velázquez said.

But Hialeah police records show Menocal was already making traffic stops weeks before the state attorney’s office formally closed out the case in signed and dated “close-out” memos on Aug. 12, 2016.

Ed Griffith, a spokesman for the state attorney’s office, disputed the chief’s account. “There was no conversation with the chief of the Hialeah police department on this matter,” Griffith said, although he added prosecutors may have had informal conversations with the chief’s subordinates.

At some point after state prosecutors formally declined to file charges, the federal investigation began, Velázquez said.

The chief did not explain why Menocal was pulled from patrol duty while under state investigation but then allowed to stay on the street after federal authorities picked up the case.

Nor did he explain why Menocal was again placed on desk duty and “relieved of police powers” earlier this year, beyond saying that “new developments” had taken place.

He would not comment when asked if new victims had come forward or new allegations had been made.

“It’s a process,” he said. “It’s a lengthy process.”

Velázquez criticized the Herald for suggesting that he rewarded the sergeant. He said that a 4.5 percent raise Menocal received during the state’s criminal investigation was mandated by the department’s union contract.

“Our officers work under a collective bargaining agreement,” he said. “They get that automatically.”

But a performance evaluation signed by Velázquez states the “merit step” raise was being “recommended,” according to a copy of Menocal’s personnel file.

After coming back to active duty, Menocal was assigned to Miami Dade College’s police academy.

Unprompted at the news conference — and without specifically referencing the claim — the chief seemed to dismiss a rumor that Menocal impregnated a cadet when he was a training adviser at the academy. Velázquez said Friday that a cadet confessed to having “fabricated” an incident involving Menocal. He said Hialeah police and school officials investigated the claim together.

The Herald had not questioned the department about the allegation and had published nothing about it. A spokesman for Miami Dade College said last week that the school had “no record of any cadet raising concerns about [Menocal] to college officials.”

Velázquez declined an interview request before the Herald’s investigation ran online.

The scandal played out in the midst of a runoff election where two candidates backed by Mayor Carlos Hernández will be running for two seats on the City Council.

In a brief phone interview prior to the Herald’s report, Hernández declined to say much about the case. Hernández oversees the day-to-day functions of city departments, including appointing and overseeing all department heads and city employees, including Velázquez.

He did not respond to a request for comment Friday.

The federal investigation also came to light as critics of Hernández — two losing City Council candidates — launched a campaign to collect more than 5,000 signatures requesting a recall vote against the mayor. The request for a referendum accuses Hernández of “abuse of power and mismanagement.”

Julio Martínez, a former Hialeah mayor who is the driving force behind the recall, said residents are questioning if the police department under Hernández’s leadership is keeping them safe.

“If we can’t trust the police,” Martínez said, “who are we going to trust?”

Oscar De la Rosa, a new City Council member, said he wants to know the truth.

“That kind of behavior is intolerable,” he said. “This kind of behavior will not be accepted. It’s not a proper representation of our city, our morals and our organization.”

Council member Monica Perez said she would follow up on the Menocal case. “I don’t know the details of this, but if he’s guilty, this is something we should take very seriously,” she said.

Hialeah council members Vivian Casáls-Muñoz, José Caragol, Katharine Cue-Fuente, Paul Hernandez and Carl Zogby, a former spokesman for Hialeah police, did not respond to requests for comment.

As he left the lectern Friday, Velázquez was asked whether he had listened to the sworn statements of the alleged victims and whether he believed them.

“I have nothing else to say,” he said.

This story was originally published November 15, 2019 at 1:08 PM.