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Who is Donald Valverde? Pasco County police officer arrested over child sexual abuse allegations
Pasco County deputy Donald Valverde was arrested over alleged child sexual abuse. He faces three charges after a victim came forward, police said.
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Corporal Donald Valverde, a deputy with the Paco County Sheriff's Office in Florida was arrested by the department over allegations of child sexual abuse. On Friday, Sheriff Chris Nocco confirmed the allegations against Valverde.
Sheriff Chris Nocco said that the victim, who was allegedly abused by Corporal Donald Valverde, came forward with the details of the abuse. Nocco said the details “churned stomachs” when they were first made aware of them. He added that upon investigation, they found grounds to charge him with two counts of lewd and lascivious molestation, along with a charge of unlawful sexual activity on a minor.
“I can’t provide too many details about the victim, but I will say that victim is extremely brave,” the Sheriff said. “The bravery at that age to be able to stand up against a monster is incredible.”
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Who Is Donald Valverde?
Donald Valverde was hired by the Pasco County Sheriff's Department in 2015. He worked for several years as a patrol officer before rising through the ranks to become a corporal.
Sheriff Nocco revealed that this is not the first time that allegations have tarred his life as an officer and described his record as "far from stellar."
Among the allegations against Corporal Donald Valvarde was domestic abuse, for which the department officially investigated him, the Sheriff revealed. This is the first time that allegations of abuse involving children have emerged against the police officer.
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“We don’t even recognize him anymore,” Sheriff Nocco added. “What he did is an embarrassment to the profession.” He, however, added that the domestic abuse investigation against him found no grounds for his dismissal as a police officer.
The Sheriff added that the abuse of the alleged victim happened over a "lengthy period of time." However, the Sheriff's department did not release the exact timeline of the alleged abuse. The identity of the victim was also not known, but the Sheriff said that Donald Valverde and the victim had a "custodial relationship" and knew each other well.
"If somebody is that devious and evil to do it to this victim, I suspect that there's other victims out there, and I'm begging them to please come forward," Sheriff Nocco added.
