Ex-Hialeah Cop Who Used Badge to Sexually Assault Young Victims Is Released Early From Prison

A former Hialeah Police Department sergeant convicted of sexually abusing several young women in his custody has been released early from prison.

In 2015, Jesus "Jessie" Menocal Jr. was accused of sexually assaulting several women and girls, including a 14-year-old and 17-year-old, while in uniform. Menocal remained on the police force for years despite the harrowing allegations — even receiving a raise — before he was fired in 2019 and arrested on three counts of depriving women of their civil rights.

In 2022, Menocal was sentenced to three years in prison following a plea deal in which he admitted to abusing four victims: a 25-year-old, a 17-year-old, a 19-year-old, and a woman of an unspecified age who was having a mental health crisis, according to a federal sentencing memorandum.

Less than two years later, the former police officer has been freed from prison "due to good behavior."

"Due to good behavior and credits in prison, [Menocal] has been released to a halfway house and is due to start his probation on April 12th, 2024," a court motion reads.

Menocal, who began his prison term in July 2022, is not required to register as a sex offender in Florida.

He was able to plead to misdemeanor civil rights charges, rather than felony charges, because the U.S. Department of Justice claimed there were gaps in civil rights law that would have made it difficult to convict him in a felony case. Less than two weeks after Menocal finalized the plea deal, U.S. Congress passed legislation that sought to close those gaps and widen prosecutors' ability to pursue felony charges against cops who sexually abuse people while on duty.

Menocal's attorney has not responded to New Times' request for comment.

Prior to his arrest, Menocal served as a police officer for 13 years. His father, Jesus Menocal Sr. was the longtime chief of the embattled Sweetwater Police Department.

As previously reported by New Times, Menocal was accused of picking up young women and girls and luring them into city alleyways and other secluded areas, including inside a local police station, where he would then force them into performing oral sex or having sexual intercourse.

In one instance, a 19-year-old woman was walking down a street in Hialeah when Menocal pulled up and asked her to ride along with him, insisting it "wasn't safe" to walk alone at night. She initially refused, but after being pressured into his police car, the woman was brought to a vacant alley where Menocal sexually assaulted her, according to court documents.

In another incident, Menocal promised to release a woman who was suffering a mental health crisis in exchange for a sexual favor. According to court documents, Menocal led the woman to a bathroom inside a Hialeah Police Department substation and coerced her into performing oral sex on him before placing her back into handcuffs and ordering another officer to drive her to a hospital for an involuntary psych evaluation.

One girl was just 14 when Menocal allegedly forced her to perform oral sex under threat of jail time. His oldest reported victim, in her 20s, fell from a moving car and died months after investigators questioned her about her claims of abuse at the hands of Menocal.
As part of his plea agreement, Menocal agreed to surrender his police license and not reapply for any law enforcement position.

But while his misdemeanor conviction allows him to maintain his right to possess firearms, conditions of his release don't allow him to possess a firearm while on probation.

Last month, Menocal's attorney asked a judge to consider modifying his probation terms to allow Menocal to possess firearms "for work purposes only." The motion noted that Menocal plans to resume work at his family's firearms training school, Menocal International Training.

"[Menocal] has the desire to become a productive member of society and rebuild the trust and reputation he once had as a police officer," the motion reads.

A federal judge ultimately denied the request.

David Lane, a civil rights attorney and criminal defense expert, told New Times in 2022 that Miami-Dade state prosecutors "who were inept or corrupt, or both," bore responsibility for not pursuing felony charges against Menocal.

"This is a crime under Florida law, flat-out sexual-assault law. I'm just shocked that the state didn't go after this cop," Lane said.

Assistant State Attorney Johnette Hardiman's closeout memo justified the decision not to bring state charges against Menocal by pointing to alleged credibility issues with testimony. Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said in a 2019 statement that her office lacked "sufficient evidence to ethically file state sexual assault charges" but referred the case to the feds for civil rights prosecution.