Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco discusses arrest of child protective investigator.

Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco discusses the investigation that led to the arrest of child protective investigator, Jennifer Lewis. He says that Jennifer Lewis was training a new child protection investigator who realized that Jennifer Lewis was falsifying reports and reported it to the sheriff’s department.

The investigation led the sheriff’s department to charge Jennifer Lewis with two felony charges for falsifying reports.

Twenty-seven present cases that Jennifer Lewis was responsible for before she resigned were reviewed. As of this time, the sheriff stated that it does not appear that anyone was harmed in those 27 cases, but that 62 other previous cases are being reviewed as well to make sure that no one’s rights were violated and that no harm was done.

Pasco Sheriff, Chris Nocco says that his county is the first to put body cameras on child protection workers and that it is this partnership with the community that “allows everyone to see what is going on,” and “if we are wrong then we are wrong”. As of right now, Pasco County is testing the use of child protection investigators with 49 cameras.

Another point that the sheriff makes is that the Quality Assurance team that is responsible for maintaining the child protection department’s integrity only reviews cases quarterly and that this case was found more quickly because the trainee recognized and reported the problem immediately.

Jennifer Lewis’ mugshot will not be released because she is a member of law enforcement and is protected under Florida statue, but somebody got it. Jennifer Lewis worked with the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office from January 2016 to her resignation in March 2021.

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