Deputy arrested; charged with sexual battery

A local deputy called in to help a woman, but ends up behind bars. He is now charged with sexual battery. For five years, Deputy Luis Gutierrez-Florez has been a Martin County Sheriff's Deputy. He was on road patrol and once worked at the jail. Now, he's the one behind bars.Sheriff Robert Crowder says, "We're not trying to hide this. It's embarrassing to the organization, it's embarrassing to the profession and we don't condone it."

Friday, Sheriff Robert Crowder announced Deputy Luis Gutierrez-Florez was arrested on sexual battery charges. It all stems from an incident in April, when a 25 year-old Palm City woman called deputies, saying her husband stole money from her. Gutierrez responded to the call. In the offense report, the woman says the Deputy became inappropriate. She says he said, "Why don't you cheat on him (your husband)? Why don't you cheat on him with me right now?" The deputy and the woman had met before.

In an 18 page investigation the woman says the deputy kissed her and touched her inappropriately without her consent. The Deputy denies it all. The Sheriff says this is an isolated incident, and they are still investigating, "When they do happen we take them quite seriously and we do react and try to get to the truth of the matter."

We looked at Gutierrez's personnel file. In it there is mention of a complaint for stalking, and he was counseled for asking women to call him when they need help. Sheriff Crowder wants it known despite this you can still trust his department, "I think we have to ensure the public that we are worth of their trust, they must be able to trust us."

For now, the father of two and husband will remain in the St. Lucie County jail, not Martin County, as a precautionary measure. His status as an active deputy will be up for discussion next week. During the investigation, this report shows Gutierrez became very angry at fellow co-workers. The Sheriff calls him a better than average deputy. Again, Gutierrez denies any of this took place.