When three students at the Miami Dade College School of Justice noticed a classmate with a bulging belly, they asked her if she was pregnant.
Yes, the 22-year-old cadet told them — and the father was Hialeah Police Sgt. Jesús Menocal Jr. (THREAD) hrld.us/2RVbki3
Yes, the 22-year-old cadet told them — and the father was Hialeah Police Sgt. Jesús Menocal Jr. (THREAD) hrld.us/2RVbki3
The other cadets were well aware something was going on between the student and Menocal, her training adviser at the prestigious law enforcement academy.
She had shown them flirty texts and even said she and Menocal were having sex in his patrol truck, three fellow cadets later told Hialeah Police Department internal affairs investigators in sworn interviews.
On a Friday afternoon, the woman approached another training adviser and told him what had happened. But over the weekend Menocal repeatedly texted the pregnant student, telling her to withdraw her claim, according to a source familiar with their relationship.
The pressure tactics worked.
On Monday, Aug. 21, 2017, when the woman met with the School of Justice director Paul Kiley and Rene Revilla — the training adviser she told about the pregnancy three days earlier — she claimed she had made the whole thing up.
On Monday, Aug. 21, 2017, when the woman met with the School of Justice director Paul Kiley and Rene Revilla — the training adviser she told about the pregnancy three days earlier — she claimed she had made the whole thing up.
In the end, the School of Justice undertook no formal investigation. The woman left the law enforcement academy immediately after the incident. It is unclear if she had to withdraw because she was pregnant or because she was dismissed for lying. hrld.us/31283l4
Menocal, a married father of two, was only dismissed in November 2019 after the @MiamiHerald informed college officials it was preparing to publish an investigation into long-standing allegations of sexual assault that had been lodged against him in 2015. hrld.us/32M8tLF
A month after the Herald’s story, Menocal was indicted by federal prosecutors who said he used his badge to pressure two women, one a minor, for sex. hrld.us/37AidvI
While Hialeah Police Chief Sergio Velázquez continues to say the academy cadet “fabricated” her story about the pregnancy, the Herald found significant evidence that Menocal did in fact have a sexual relationship with the student and then sought to cover up his behavior.
Reporters reviewed audio recordings of detailed sworn testimony that three cadets and one instructor gave to Hialeah police internal affairs investigators and interviewed four sources with knowledge of the case.
A Hialeah police spokesman said Velázquez stood by his earlier comments that the cadet had fabricated the story.
“He further states that any insinuation to the contrary would be another example of a misdirected attack by the Herald concerning Hialeah,” said Lt. Eddie Rodriguez.
“He further states that any insinuation to the contrary would be another example of a misdirected attack by the Herald concerning Hialeah,” said Lt. Eddie Rodriguez.
Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernández previously called the Herald “racist” and “anti-Cuban” for its coverage of the police department and Menocal. hrld.us/2Nx7tq5
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