INTERLACHEN, Fla. – A Putnam County corrections deputy has been charged with soliciting prostitution after being arrested in an undercover sting, the sheriff's office announced Wednesday.
According to the sheriff's office, Deputy Patrick Dean drove to an Interlachen convenience store Tuesday for a meeting with a woman he didn't know was actually an undercover detective. Deputies said he planned to pay the woman $75 for sex after arranging the meeting on Facebook Messenger.
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Deputies said when he got to the convenience store on State Road 20, he messaged the “woman” and said, “I am waiting on you.”
Instead, Dean was met by detectives and arrested, deputies said. He was booked into the Putnam County Jail and later released on bond.
“All allegations of crime are taken seriously in Putnam County and this is especially true when the allegation involves a deputy sheriff,” Sheriff Gator DeLoach said. “To make a difference in our community, we must earn the public trust and Dean’s incomprehensible actions do nothing but erode that trust.”
Deputies said the undercover investigation began after detectives working on an unrelated investigation about there weeks ago heard that Dean was soliciting sexual favors in exchange for money or prescription medication.
Deputies said detectives are now investigating to determine the extent of Dean’s involvement with prostitution.
They said it doesn't appear that any of the crimes took place while Dean was on duty or that any involved inmates in the Putnam County Jail.
Dean was placed on administrative leave after his arrest and was stripped of his badge, agency firearm and authority as a deputy sheriff.
Dean’s status as a Putnam County Sheriff’s Office employee will be decided after an internal investigation, deputies said.
“I look forward to the speedy completion of the required internal investigation,” DeLoach said. “If these allegations are sustained, I look forward to ridding the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office of this individual that does not deserve to wear our star.”
Dean was hired as a corrections deputy in 1990 and resigned in March 2004. His resignation was not the result of any pending disciplinary action.
Dean was rehired in November 2004, and has been the subject of five previous internal investigations, deputies said.
In 1992, Dean was investigated on suspicion that he had handled an inmate improperly, but the allegation was determined to be unfounded, deputies said.
In 2003, Dean was reprimanded for having a relationship with a woman who had previously been an inmate in the Putnam County Jail, deputies said.
He was suspended and placed on disciplinary probation in 2012 after an investigation confirmed that he had allowed an underage adult to drink alcohol at a house party, deputies said.
In 2016, Dean was again suspended without pay for failing to provide medication to an inmate in a timely manner, and in 2017, Dean was suspended and required to undergo a psychological examination after he made rude comments to a woman on social media.