3 Flagler Co. detention deputies resign while under investigation by FDLE

Deputy accused of having sex with inmate, report says

FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – Three Flagler County deputies who worked in the county’s detention center have resigned while under Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation, according to the Flagler County Sheriff's Office.

On Jan. 13, an inmate assigned to work in the laundry room at the detention center was asked to "call in sick" on Monday, Jan. 16, by Deputy Julio Vasquez.

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According to the report, Vasquez told the inmate that Deputy Bradley Gilyard was going to have sex with another inmate sometime Monday afternoon. The inmate claimed a knee injury on Jan. 16, the FDLE report notes.

Video inside the facility on Jan. 16 shows Deputy Bradley Gilyard showing his agency-issued Taser to two female inmates in the facility’s laundry room, officials said. Video also shows him carrying his gun belt while entering the laundry room and moving into an unknown blind spot.

Officials said one inmate and Gilyard were out of the camera's view for six minutes.

"Upon returning into camera view, the female inmate’s jumper is disheveled and unevenly spread across her shoulders," officials said.

On Jan. 19, officials were made aware of the incident after an inmate who was working in the laundry room on Jan. 16 told another deputy at the facility that Gilyard entered the laundry room and had sex with a female inmate. The inmate told officials she witnessed the entire event.

Prior to Gilyard coming to work on Jan. 20, Gilyard was given a "heads up" that FDLE was conducting an investigation of the facility, the report said.

The report states Vasquez contacted Deputy Jonathon Vitale by phone and advised him to "let Gilyard know what was going on" as Vitale and Gilyard were scheduled to work that day.

Prior to the phone call, the commander asked all personnel on duty, including Vasquez, to not talk to anyone about being at the facility, the report said.

Gilyard was placed on paid leave upon his arrival at work on Jan. 20.

Each deputy was questioned in an interview with FDLE officials about the allegations.

When Vitale was interviewed by the FDLE on April 19, he told FDLE officials that Vasquez told him that morning, "FDLE is here for Gilyard, get in touch with him and let him know." After walking outside the facility, Vitale texted Gilyard and told him to call him ASAP.

Gilyard was informed by Vitale that "FDLE is here for you" and responded “OK.”

After FDLE officials asked Vitale about his actions regarding the heads-up text to Gilyard, Vitale told them "In hindsight probably not, I jammed myself up...I guess I got Vasquez in trouble?"

Deputy Vitale was interviewed by investigators as a witness regarding the investigation into Gilyard’s actions.

Vitale had been seen on video receiving a note from an inmate who was in the laundry room Jan. 16,then reading it as he walked down the hallway, according to a report.

Investigators said surveillance video showed that the inmate saw a deputy walking down the hallway, so the inmate began walking toward the door to give Vitale the note.

The inmate noticed that it wasn’t Vitale and went back inside and continued working. Vitale walked toward the laundry room 30 seconds later and the inmate walked back to the door, pulled a piece of paper from inside her T-shirt and said something as she handed it to Vitale, who put it in the left cargo pocket of his pants, according to the report.

When investigators asked Vitale about the note, he admitted receiving a note from the inmate, but said he couldn’t recall what was written on the note, investigators said.

Vitale was asked if he often passed notes with inmates, to which he replied, “I often receive paper from inmates,” according to the report.

Investigators also asked Vitale about another incident caught on video.

The video showed Vitale leaving the supervisor’s office with a white cup and walking to the doorway of the laundry room, investigators said. Vitale was then seen giving the cup to an inmate.

“I came out of the supervisor’s office with a cup of sweet tea. I was standing there talking to them (inmates) and they asked what it was,” Vitale told investigators when asked about the incident.

He said he told them it was sweet tea and one of them asked for some, according to the report. Vitale told them to split it between them.

Investigators asked Vitale if this happened on a regular basis, to which he replied that it did.

In Gilyard's interview with FDLE investigators, he was asked about the Jan. 16 incident and his familiarity about the blind spots in the camera system.

"Yes. There are several of them ... there's spots like the laundry room that people talk about," Gilyard told FDLE investigators.

When asked about the specific locations of the blind spots in the laundry room, he told them that "I don't know exactly where."

He was asked if it was important for him to know where they were and he replied, "Yes. I've heard talk about blind spots," but admits he never took initiative to find out where they were.

He was also asked about taking off his gun belt, to which he responded, "If I take my gun belt off, I put my mace in my BDU pocket so there’s nothing on there at all," the report said.

Gilyard told FDLE officials "he is personally okay with being up close with inmates during his normal course of work," the report said.

The report notes that Gilyard was seen speaking with the inmates on Jan. 16 for 27 minutes in 11 minute intervals.

FDLE officials also asked Gilyard what they could be talking about for so long.

"I don't talk about anything personal … I don’t talk about anything specific… I don’t talk about anything inappropriate," Gilyard said.

In their report, investigators note that throughout the day, four other detention employees walked past the laundry room with the two inmates inside and never stopped to talk with them, the report said.

When asked whether that seemed odd, Gilyard replied, "Not necessarily, because if you look at another day, there would be other people that stop by there and I wouldn't stop by there."

Gilyard told FDLE officials that he did not have sex while on duty. After, he was informed that another inmate spoke to officials about what happened.

He was also questioned about photos showing the other inmate in the room during the alleged incident appearing to be shocked or embarrassed and why she was covering her face or laughing for three minutes.

"I don't know why she's laughing and putting her hands in her face. I don't know the distance of the area of the blind spot ... I've never been within arm's reach of ..." Gilyard said.

Gilyard is asked by deputies about the inmate with whom he is accused of having sex and why she appears disheveled after she is not seen on camera.

"It looks different," Gilyard said.

When asked about what happened, Gilyard told officials, "Nothing happened."

Gilyard resigned Friday, prior to being disciplined. Vasquez and Vitale both resigned earlier in the investigation, the Sheriff's Office said.

Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly released the following statement following the resignations:

“I was elected to bring strong ethical practices and leadership to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office. This bad behavior tarnishes the badge and will not be tolerated under my administration.”