The South Florida cop who used his badge to sexually assault several girls and women was sentenced to three years in prison earlier today – the maximum sentence under a plea deal that does not require him to register as a sex offender.
Former Hialeah Police Sergeant Jesus “Jesse” Menocal accepted a plea deal last month that allowed him to plead guilty to three misdemeanors. He was initially facing life in prison on felony sex assault charges, including kidnapping.
The 34-year-old man who comes from a family of cops will not be allowed to work as a cop again upon release but will be allowed to own and carry firearms. He will also be allowed to continue working as a firearms instructor at his family’s company, Menocal International Training.
One of his victims was a 14-year-old girl whom he forced to perform oral sex on him. Another girl was seventeen years old.
And another victim who was 30-years-old died under mysterious circumstances after falling out of a moving car, five months after she had accused him of threatening to murder her if she dared report him to internal affairs.
But Menocal remained protected for years by the Hialeah Police Department and the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office.
He even bragged that he was protected by internal affairs because he was sleeping with the female investigator.
It was not until the FBI arrested him in 2019 that he faced any accountability for his crimes.
His attorneys told the Miami Herald that they received more than 70 letters of support on behalf of the rapist cop, pointing out the number of participation awards he won over the years.
According to a sentencing memo from his supporters:
“He was nominated as officer of the year and the many commendations and awards reflected all the work he put in. With all that came pressure and scrutiny and as sure as the rise came, so did the fall.
The product of immature masculinity? A toxic culture? It is difficult, as everyone who knows him attests, to reconcile the person they know with the defendant before this court.
Certainly, the facts of this case are troubling to say the least but when compared to decades of good deeds and a life dedicated to serving his community, this court should look not just at the facts surrounding the offense but the facts about Jessie as a man, a father, a husband, a son and see that he can be redeemed.
At a minimum the way Jessie has led his life, but for a very brief and anomalous period of time, he has earned a second chance.”
But Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Stamm wrote the following in a sentencing memo:
“This duty was especially sacred when it came to protecting the most vulnerable in his community. Yet instead of serving his community, the defendant tarnished his badge and abused his authority by sexually exploiting the very people he was supposed to protect.
That he committed his crimes while holding the supervisory rank of sergeant, charged with leading the patrol officers under his command, is all the more troubling.”
Menocal not only committed his crimes as a sergeant, he was promoted to sergeant after he had already been accused of rape to further protect him from accountability.
once again the magic badge protects another blue lies mafia criminal from that “accountability” thing!
3 years on misdemeanors! how pathetic!