Former Seminole sheriff employee speaks out after sex sting arrest, charges dropped
A former Seminole County Sheriff’s Office employee whose charges in an agency sex sting were dropped spoke out for the first time Friday, saying there was no truth to the allegations against him.
Speaking alongside his lawyer and fiancée, Leroy Green told reporters he was getting ready to exercise May 9 at Liberty Park in Lake Mary when deputies arrested him for indecent exposure and soliciting prostitution. According to an affidavit, Green, 35, met with undercover deputies at the park after exchanging messages on an online hook-up app.
The affidavit notes Green was not identified as having sent deputies messages until later. One deputy further claimed Green, who has since resigned from the Sheriff’s Office as a youth-intervention specialist, asked for oral sex when approached at his driver-side window.
Green denied the claims made in the affidavit.
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“It is very unfortunate to have been betrayed and to have lost faith and trust in a law enforcement agency that I gave so much of my life to, 12-plus years to be exact,” said Green, adding his resignation from the agency was not an admission of guilt.
He further said, “This investigation lacked evidence and the allegations were based on inaccurate, false and misleading information. To this day, I am still unsure what the motives were, but what I do know is that I was a victim of being at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
When asked for comment by the Orlando Sentinel, a Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said, “We are going to let the report speak for itself.”
Nearly a month after his arrest, a Brevard-Seminole State Attorney’s Office spokesperson announced prosecutors had dropped the charges, saying “the available evidence could not support” accusations against Green.
Phillip Arroyo, Green’s lawyer, called on Sheriff Dennis Lemma to take “corrective action” against deputies involved in the sting operation.
Court records indicate two other people, including a now-former University of Central Florida trustee whose charges have also been dropped, were arrested as part of the operation. The other suspect, also represented by Arroyo, still faces trial.
“I hope that when we open that channel of dialogue with Sheriff Lemma, we’re better informed of any corrective action, but I’m not going to hold my breath,” Arroyo said. “As a defense attorney, we’ve had cases dropped and the allegations are unfounded and no action is taken against the officers. That’s the nature of the beast.”
The agency has said the deputies involved with Green’s arrest have not been investigated for potential wrongdoing after the case against him fell apart. Arroyo said Green is in the process of getting a different attorney to explore a possible lawsuit.
