No charges filed against Nicole Jackson-Maldonado for taking nude photos of inmate

The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office will not file indecent exposure charges against Nicole Jackson-Maldonado, the 15-year-old accused of shooting at deputies who is being held at the county jail.

The charges stem from an incident in which Jackson-Maldonado took nude pictures of a 17-year-old inmate while she was in the shower. Jackson-Maldonado said the other girl asked her to take the photos, according to the reports.

The photos were described as “very inappropriate and lewd in nature,” in the reports.

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The 17-year-old was being held at the jail on charges of grand theft, resisting without violence, burglary with assault or battery, lewd lascivious battery and “destroy/damage/alter elect monitor equip.”

She was transferred back to Seminole County on Nov. 17 before the disciplinary process was completed and any finding issued in her case. The News-Journal is not naming her because it’s unclear whether she had been charged as an adult.

Jackson-Maldonado is facing several charges, including attempted murder of a law enforcement officer.

Jackson-Maldonado has been placed in administrative confinement as punishment for violating jail rules, according to the county. But the jailers took it a step further and forwarded one of the allegations, which dealt with indecent exposure, to the sheriff’s office for a possible criminal charge.

In an email Wednesday afternoon, Volusia County spokesman Kevin Captain said the sheriff’s office had declined to charge Jackson-Maldonado with any crime in the jail incident.

When asked how many inmates have been referred to the sheriff’s office for possible criminal charges regarding indecent exposure, Captain wrote that “there is no report responsive to your request,” meaning information did not come up in a records request.

Additionally, the jail wanted the sheriff's office to check if any pictures were transmitted to people outside the jail and ensure the computers had not been altered to allow internet access.

The sheriff's office checked the laptops and found nude photos of both girls but nothing was found that was identified as child pornography, according to a report. The sheriff's office found no evidence that either juvenile had sent the pictures to anyone, the sheriff's office report stated. Also, none of the photos indicated any involvement by officers at the jail, the report stated.

The laptops were returned to Volusia County schools and reset in the presence of a sheriff's office detective to ensure that all photos were deleted, the report stated.

The sheriff's office did not find any violations of law and no criminal charges would be filed, the report stated.

'Lil fun'

The photos were discovered on the 17-year-old's Lenovo Thinkpad. Jackson-Maldonado received the same type of computer, which was provided by Volusia County Schools. The photos were taken using the computer’s camera.

A GED instructor found the photos when she checked the 17-year-old's work on the computer, a report stated.

“I took the photos and told her to delete it after, so we don’t get in trouble,” Jackson-Maldonado is quoted saying in a disciplinary report.

Jackson-Maldonado also said that pictures were taken of her.

“Yes, in my boxers. I don’t see a problem with it at all. We are teenagers and I have done it before. Teenagers do it all the time,” Jackson is quoted in the report.

The correctional officer investigating the incident wrote that Jackson was told that just because other teenagers do it doesn’t make it appropriate and that the conduct was not acceptable in the jail.

Jackson-Maldonado did not have a defense attorney or her guardian ad litem with her during the disciplinary hearing at the jail.

Volusia spokesman Captain said the hearings are not like a court hearing where the inmate would be represented.

Both Jackson-Maldonado and the other girl stated that no physical touching occurred between them, the report stated.

“No, no way,” Jackson-Maldonado is quoted as saying.

Correctional officers also found that several new passwords had been created on Jackson-Maldonado's laptop, locking out her instructor, the report stated.

Jailers found Jackson-Maldonado guilty of three charges: engaging in sexual acts with self-others; refusing to obey; and conduct which disrupts.

Jackson-Maldonado denied all the allegations, the report stated.

Both Jackson-Maldonado and the 17-year-old have been warned about their behavior in the past, the report stated.

On Sept. 10, a jail staff member saw Jackson-Maldonado acting inappropriately with the 17-year-old, the report stated.

Jackson-Maldonado was warned verbally on Sept. 21 about unauthorized use of her class computer, according to the report.

Jackson-Maldonado said in the report that she had never been warned about using her laptop or its camera. Jackson does not feel she did anything wrong and admitted to having a “lil fun,” the report stated.

Jackson-Maldonado was also quoted as saying “That’s what the camera is for; to take pictures,” the report states.

At the Nov. 22 disciplinary hearing, Jackson-Maldonado was punished with 15 days of disciplinary sanctions which included barring her from recreation, social visitation and telephone use. She was also restricted to a cell.

She is allowed contact with her attorney, her guardian ad litem and educational services, the jail said.

'The punishment is just too much'

In response to the punishment related to the pictures, Jackson-Maldonado was adamant she was not guilty and stated, “The punishment is just too much,” according to the report.

But Jackson-Maldonado is facing decades in state prison in adult court for the incident in which she and a 12-year-old boy were accused of shooting at deputies.

Jackson-Maldonado faces up to life in prison on a charge of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer (firearm); burglary of a dwelling while armed; and criminal mischief causing damage of $1,000 or more.  

The State Attorney’s Office has offered Jackson-Maldonado a plea deal which would send the 15-year-old to adult prison for 20 years followed by a lengthy term of 40 years' probation.

The plea deal would amend the attempted murder of a law enforcement officer charge to attempted murder.

It was a very different plea than the one offered to the boy, whose case was kept in juvenile court.

The boy pleaded guilty to the same charges as Jackson-Maldonado and, as part of the plea deal, could be released from a juvenile facility in less than three years.

Since the boy was charged as a juvenile, The News-Journal is not naming him.

Since Jackson-Maldonado is a juvenile, if convicted as charged at trial and sentenced to life, her sentence would be reviewed within 25 years or possibly sooner, at which point she could be released.

Circuit Judge Elizabeth Blackburn scheduled a hearing for Jan. 5 to possibly set a trial date on the charges related to the shooting.

The shooting

Jackson-Maldonado was 14 when she and a then-12-year-old boy ran away from the Florida United Methodist Children’s Home in Enterprise on June 1, 2021, broke into a house and armed themselves with guns they found inside, according to charging affidavits.

When Volusia County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived, Maldonado and the boy fired at the deputies, according to affidavits.

No deputies were injured. Deputies held their fire initially, but shot Jackson-Maldonado when she stepped out of the garage with a firearm, according to charging affidavits.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Teen won't face charges after taking nude photos of Volusia inmate