OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – Two employees with the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office are facing criminal charges, Sheriff Christopher A. Blackmon said during a news conference on Wednesday.
Blackmon said during a news conference that the two employees – a civilian employee and a deputy – “have broken that sacred trust that’s instilled upon us."
“I want to remind you all that we have a great agency with a lot of good people,” Blackmon said. “We just have a small segment that we’re looking at that have some issues. And with that, as we see those issues, we will arrest and prosecute those people if it’s criminal.”
Blackmon said that the two employees’ conduct was related to misuse of internal computer systems and databases, but that the cases are not related to each other.
He claimed that one of the employees’ actions were known by Blackmon’s predecessor, Sheriff Marcos Lopez, and ignored.
“We found this information, but the prior administration knew about this and failed to act on it,” Blackmon said.
News 6’s Mike Valente asked for clarity: “When you say the prior administration, this goes as high as Marcos Lopez?”
“Absolutely,” Blackmon responded. “Yes.”
Blackmon replaced Lopez after the embattled sheriff was suspended following his arrest in June on racketeering charges. Lopez has pleaded not guilty and is out of jail on bond.
Blackmon did not suggest that Lopez had any criminal culpability in connection with the alleged actions of the employee in question.
That employee, former deputy sheriff Kyle Henry, 40, was placed on administrative leave earlier in June and was arrested Wednesday for unlawful access to the computer system and electronic databases to obtain information not relevant to his official duties.
The actions happened in May 2024, according to Blackmon.
A separate investigation began on July 15 into civilian employee Cassandra Wirthlin, a digital evidence specialist with the agency, Blackmon said.
Blackmon said Wirthlin was fired on July 17 and an arrest warrant was issued on July 23 for unlawful use of a two-way communication device and four counts of unauthorized access to the computer system.
An arrest warrant for Wirthlin accused her of accessing internal information, including body-camera footage from an officer-involved shooting and an employee’s personnel file.
The warrant claimed that in January 2025, she searched the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) audit logs and located an anonymously reported traffic complaint. She then allegedly texted an image of the confidential CAD content to her husband, before searching an internal database to access the dispatcher’s personnel file.
Wirthlin then texted her husband about the dispatcher and used a racial slur to describe the employee, according to the warrant.
“This statement, containing a racial slur and demeaning commentary, reflects a deliberate misuse of sensitive law enforcement systems to obtain and exploit protected information for personal ridicule,” the warrant said.
Wirthlin turned herself into the Osceola County jail on the same day the warrant was issued, according to the sheriff’s office.
Blackmon said Wirthlin was employed with the agency for more than eight years.
As for Henry’s case, Blackmon did not provide any evidence to back up his claim that Lopez ignored misconduct in his office.
After Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended Lopez from office, he appointed Blackmon to take his place while the case against Lopez plays out.
News 6 contacted Lopez’s attorney Wednesday to see if her client wanted to respond to Blackmon’s suggestion that Lopez turned a blind eye to Henry’s alleged conduct. His attorney, Mary Ibrahim, said over the phone that she did not know about Blackmon’s claims, and that she would consult with her co-counsel before commenting.