JSO officer resigns after being under investigation, accused of soliciting prostitute

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — UPDATE 11/01/2019: Action News Jax now has the Internal Affairs report outlining the allegations against former JSO officer Joseph Legard.

The 86-page report says the investigation all started after a female inmate reported a crime tip.

The woman alleges Legard paid her for sexual encounters a couple of times back in September 2018.

Once the investigation began, she led police to the apartment Legard allegedly took her to, that only a few officers, including Legard knew about.

He allegedly had three separate sexual encounters with the woman in broad daylight while he was in uniform.

She says Legard took her to an apartment on Broward Road that was used by a few officers to write up reports and eat.

When questioned, Legard first denied ever taking anyone to the apartment then his story started to change.

He later admitted to having multiple women in the apartment, some of which he had sexual relations with.

Now the States Attorney's Office did find probable cause for these allegations, but Legard won't be facing any charge because SAO says a conviction would be unlikely. ​

UPDATE, 10/31/2019: Officer Joseph Legard of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office has resigned after being accused of solicitation of prostitution and other matters. JSO released the following statement on the investigation:

"The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office recently completed a lengthy internal investigation into Police Officer Joseph LeGard.

"The initial investigation stemmed from multiple allegations of both criminal and administrative violations. The case was originally investigated by our Integrity Unit for purposes of proving the presence of violations of law. At the conclusion of that investigation the case was presented to the State Attorney's Office. At this point the SAO recognized prosecution difficulties and advised "due to the limited probability of a conviction the State Attorney's Office will not prosecute the case". The case was then assigned to the Internal Affairs Unit for an administrative policy violation investigation. It was during this investigative process that multiple policy violations were sustained to include Commission of Conduct Supporting Criminal Acts - Soliciting Prostitution, which is the administrative equivalency of the criminal charge of Soliciting for Prostitution. The investigative process then called for the case to be forwarded through Officer LeGard's chain of command for discipline recommendations. The recommendation was for Officer LeGard to be terminated.

"These findings, after being forwarded to Sheriff Mike Williams and Undersheriff Pat Ivey for review, were agreed with and Officer LeGard was made aware of the outcome of the investigation.

"On Thursday, October 31, 2019 Officer Joseph LeGard tendered his resignation with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office effective immediately.

"As required by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement / Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office will document the officer's departure from the agency with an explanation as to the reasons surrounding the separation.  This will in turn be reviewed by FDLE to determine possibility of future ramifications related to Officer LeGard's Law Enforcement Certification.

"The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office will continually investigate any and all reported violations of policy or criminal acts said to have been committed by one of its employees.  Those being found in violation will be disciplined appropriately or arrested when the need arises."

Original story from 10/30/19 below:

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Internal Affairs Unit just completed an employee administrative investigation into police Officer Joseph Legard.

According to the concise history report, an in-house complaint made in November 2018 accused Legard of soliciting prostitution, misuse of computer software, falsification of official documents or records, failure to conform to work standards, failure to take action and unbecoming conduct.

The concise history report shows Legard had four separate complaints filed against him over the years.

In April 2009, a citizen complaint accused Legard of improper action. In October 2018, an in-house complaint accused him of failure to conform to work standards. Both of these allegations were sustained.

In September 2017, another citizen complaint accused Legard of unnecessary force and improper action. In July 2018, he faced allegations of failure to take action or confirm to work standards. Each of these allegations were exonerated.

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Action News Jax has requested the original complaint and investigation documents.

On Oct. 22, the records state termination was recommended. JSO said Sheriff Mike Williams signed off on this conclusion.

It is now up to Legard whether to appeal the decision.

JSO's public information officer told Action News Jax, Legard has been reassigned on different administrative duties within the building. They did not answer why Legard was not arrested or charged after this complaint.

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