Former “Officer of the Year” Arrested and Charged for Inserting His Finger in Motorist’s Anus
A former officer with the Orlando Police Department (“OPD”) was arrested on September 16, 2021, and charged with sexual battery for allegedly fondling the genitals of a man during a traffic stop and then penetrating his anus with a finger.
The incident occurred on August 12, 2014, while then-Officer Jonathan Mills and OPD Sgt. Paul Griffith were searching for a suspect in a gray Toyota Corolla. Shortly after pulling over a silver Nissan Sentra, the officers determined that neither of the two men inside was their suspect. But Mills decided to search the man in the passenger seat, Clinton Fair.
According to a civil complaint Fair later filed, Mills got him to step out of the vehicle and then pinned him against the car before he reached into Fair’s pants and “pulled on his genitals,” moving on to explore between his buttocks, too. There he “intentionally inserted a finger inside Clinton Fair’s anal cavity,” demanding to know what he was hiding there.
“I never felt so violated in my life,” Fair said.
Both he and the driver of the Nissan were released, and neither man was charged. Fair filed his lawsuit, and OPD settled it for an undisclosed amount in 2017.
That was a year after Mills was relieved of duty on an “elite tactical squad”—over a “racist” remark about a Black woman’s hair during a 2016 traffic stop—and a year before OPD named him “Officer of the Year” in 2018.
Mills was then captured on body-worn camera footage in 2019 “taunting teens during an arrest,” and he was reprimanded for “acting in an unprofessional manner.” By August 2019, he was on desk duty, where he remained for 18 months until he was fired in February 2021, according to OPD Chief Orlando Rolón.
The chief said that after the 2014 incident with Fair, OPD Internal Affairs investigators were unable to substantiate any allegations against Mills. But State’s Attorney Monique Worrell said investigators from her office found no evidence that Mills was ever investigated or disciplined over the incident, even after Fair’s civil complaint was filed.
After his arrest, Mills posted a $16,500 bond and was released. His next court date is an arraignment set for October 5, 2021, where he has indicated he will plead not guilty.
Source: Law&Crime
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