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Sheriff's Office Community Aide Arrested for Sexual Assault

Posted at 10:19 PM, Dec 08, 2017
and last updated 2017-12-08 22:19:04-05

Ivan De Jesus Moreno faced a judge for the first time Friday morning after being arrested Thursday evening when Lee County sheriff's deputies responded to a call about a sex crime where the victim described the suspect, Ivan De Jesus Moreno, sexually assaulted her earlier that day. 

According to the arrest report, Moreno worked as a community service aide with the Lee County Sheriff's Deputies. Moreno was on duty when he pretended to be to be a real deputy when he forced a woman to perform a sexual act on him. 

In court on Friday, a woman who identified herself as Moreno's Fiance pleaded with the judge. 

"I don;t know what happened last night, but he is a good man", she told the judge at Moreno' shearing. 

Four In Your Corner did some investigating to find out more about the community aide program. A spokesperson from the Lee County Sheriff's Office declined to comment.

There is a difference between the aide uniforms and deputy uniforms. Aide uniforms are khaki color. people Fox 4 spoke with today admitted that at first glance, they wouldn't have been able to distinguish between an aide and a deputy. 

One of those people was a woman named Carol. She didn't want to reveal her last name. She admitted that she had been a victim of sexual assault in the past and had little sympathy for Moreno's situation. 

"If he's guilty he needs reprimanded accordingly. Definitely taken off the force, never allowed in that position again."

Sheriff Mike Scott released the following statement following Moreno's arrest.

This kind of behavior is deplorable and we will not tolerate it in our community and certainly not from a member of our agency. He betrayed the community's trust, this office's trust, and we will not stand for it. We will enforce the laws across the board and continue to seek justice for the victim."

Moreno is currently in custody.