An award-winning Florida sheriff’s deputy is accused of placing his penis inside the mouth of a 5-year-old girl and urinating over a period of two years, beginning when she was just three years old.
Escambia County sheriff’s deputy Jerome Zaid was arrested Friday on charges of sexual battery on a victim under 12 years of age and battery of a child, according to WEAR TV.
The alleged abuse started on or around October 2017 through July 21, 2019.
According to court documents, the child told an official at the Gulf Coast Kid’s House that Zaid would urinate “a lot” in her mouth.
In the report, the child said that the abuse always took place in the bathroom and one time in her bedroom closet.
During one specific incident, the child told officials that Zaid told her to go behind the closet and “open it”, according to the report. The child went on to say she “spit the pee out” and brushed her teeth because Zaid instructed her to.
The most recent incident took place on July 17 while the girl was in his custody, according to the Pensacola News Journal.
Investigators say he abused at least two children under the age of six and believe there may be more victims out there. Victims are asked to call the Pensacola Regional Operations Center at 850-595-2100.
In 2017, Zaid received a Lifesaving Medal for using an automated external defibrillator on a man in cardiac arrest, according to FOX 10.
Zaid was hired by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office in 2015 and served with the United States Marine Corps from 2006 to 2013, according to his LinkedIn page.
Because he is a cop, Florida law makes him exempt from having his mugshot released. He remains jailed without bond.
