The Seminole County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) today arrested Jose Tirado, a detective assigned to the SCSO Crimes Against Children Unit, on an active warrant for 15 felony charges, including warning suspects seeking sex with minors they were involved in an undercover operation.
The felony charges against Tirado include five counts of Unlawful Use Of A Two-Way Communication Device, five counts of Disclosure Or Use Of Confidential Criminal Justice Information, and five counts of Unlawful Use Of A Computer, Network Or Electronic Device Resulting In The Interruption Or Impairment Of Governmental Operation.
The Sheriff’s Office self-initiated a criminal investigation in April after they discovered Tirado covertly used technology to warn suspects intending to travel to meet minors for sex that they were involved in an undercover operation, allowing them to avoid arrest, and potentially putting other detectives in harm’s way. These investigations involved detectives using undercover personas and involved no real child victims.
Tirado has been employed with the agency since May 2010, and joined the Crimes Against Unit as a detective in 2015. He was suspended on April 21, 2023, when an Administrative Investigation was initiated. Tirado was booked in the John E. Polk Correctional Facility on a $65,000 bond and placed on GPS monitoring this evening and Sheriff Dennis Lemma immediately initiated the process to terminate Tirado’s employment from the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office.
“You (Tirado) were responsible for investigating allegations of criminal child abuse, neglect and abandonment, and sexual based offenses, against minors, and investigating and apprehending those individuals who would travel to meet a minor for the purposes of sexual activity,” Sheriff Dennis Lemma stated in regards to the investigation and arrest. “You were responsible for protecting the most vulnerable members of our society, our children, and the actions you are alleged to have committed instead aided those who would seek to victimize children by allowing them to avoid arrest and prosecution.”
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The criminal and administrative investigations are open and ongoing, and the Office of the State Attorney, 18th Judicial Circuit, will prosecute the case.
