MARGATE, Fla. – FBI agents arrested a Florida police officer on Tuesday at the Margate Police Department.
Officer Andrew Hammock, who has been with the department since 2002, is facing a charge of soliciting visual depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, Local10 reported.
The police organization placed Hammock on administrative leave without pay. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida is handling the case.
Federal authorities began investigating Hammock in mid-February. An undercover agent had spotted the officer’s post on an app that’s often used to find individuals for in-person sexual encounters, reported the Miami Herald.
Posing as a 14-year-old girl, the agent talked with Hammock for roughly a month. Most of their conversations included three elements: various allusions to sexual activity, the officer admitting he was aroused and the undercover agent repeatedly emphasizing the age difference.
“Let’s not make age an issue. I think you’re hot,” Hammock once wrote, according to the criminal complaint.
Hammock sent pictures of his genitals and also repeatedly asked for nudes despite admitting he was married, the complaint says.
Jail records show that he’s being held at the Main Jail in Broward County, according to the Herald.
