The Cherokee County deputy who failed to report seeing drops of blood during the Jorelys Rivera investigation must undergo additional training, take a pay cut and will face a 36-hour suspension if he has any further discipline issues, Sheriff Roger Garrison said Friday afternoon.
"I feel very badly about having to discipline my officer that was there trying very hard to find the little girl," Garrison said. "This is a great officer. We maintain he was doing exactly what he was instructed to do."
The deputy, whose name has not been released, is a three-year veteran of the Sheriff's Office and was assisting the Canton Police Department in the search for the 7-year-old girl Dec. 3, the day after she was reported missing, Garrison told the AJC.
The deputy and a sheriff's office trainee failed to report seeing drops of blood in an apartment during the search for the girl until the following day when a specially trained GBI team arrived, Garrison said. The two officers were with at least one firefighter when they saw the blood, which they believed could have come from a nosebleed, the sheriff said.
After determining no one was inside the one-bedroom apartment, the deputy and trainee moved on to another apartment. The two were never asked to report their findings, Garrison said.
"He didn't withhold any information," Garrison said. "It was only when he was questioned about anything that he spoke up."
Garrison made the call to GBI Director Vernon Keenan requesting help in the investigation Dec. 4, even though it was the Canton Police Department's case. Garrison said Friday the GBI should have been contacted earlier in the investigation because of the girl's age, the cold weather and the amount of time she was missing.
Canton Police Chief Jeff Lance has declined to discuss the investigation with the AJC.
The body of Jorelys was found in a trash compactor Dec. 5, and investigators later determined that the apartment was the likely crime scene. Police believe Jorelys had been sexually assaulted, beaten and stabbed to death within two hours of being reported missing at 5 p.m. Dec. 2.
"They feel terrible," Garrison said of his deputy and trainee. "I want this to be educational."
The trainee is not facing any disciplinary action, Garrison said. The deputy also will be removed from the field officer program, resulting in a 5 percent pay cut.
Sheriff's deputies were dispatched to the River Ridge apartment complex to assist with the search for the girl within hours of her disappearance, and assisted throughout the investigation, Garrison said.
The deputy and trainee made a mistake in not reporting the blood, but were following orders to look for the child, the sheriff said. Neither had been instructed to look for a crime scene, Garrison said. That mistake ultimately will not affect the outcome of the case, he said.
A maintenance man employed and living at the apartment complex, 20-year-old Ryan Brunn, has been charged with the girl's death. He is being held at the Cherokee County jail without bond.
Canton Mayor Gene Hobgood said Thursday he wants to have an outside consultant review the city police department's actions during the investigation. Garrison said Friday he supports the external review and will cooperate fully.
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