MARATHON, Fla. – A Florida Keys sheriff’s deputy was arrested by her employer on more than a dozen computer crimes charges Wednesday, officials said.
Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Jennifer Ann Ketcham, 40, faces 19 felony counts of of misuse of law enforcement computers, computer networks and electronic devices, MCSO spokesperson Adam Linhardt said in a brief news release Wednesday afternoon.
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“Ketcham used law enforcement databases to look up information for personal reasons beyond the legal scope of her employment as a Deputy,” Linhardt said.
Authorities didn’t initially elaborate on the specific nature of the allegations, however, Local 10 News obtained an arrest warrant on Thursday stating that the case stems from Ketcham’s “intimate relationship” with a 19-year-old “drug dealer.”
Linhardt said Ketcham, hired on June 2, 2021, was placed on administrative leave without pay pending an internal investigation; her bond was set at $1.9 million.
“I am committed to keeping this community informed of significant events that occur in this agency — good and bad,” Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay said in Wednesday’s news release.
Jail records show Ketcham, of Cudjoe Key, was taken into custody at MCSO’s Marathon substation at 3103 Overseas Highway and jailed just before 3:45 p.m.
She had not been assigned a jail facility as of Wednesday afternoon.