A deputy of nearly 20 years with the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office was fired Thursday after an investigation into allegations of criminal conduct and child abuse.
Clinton Carman Ferguson, the 41-year-old deputy, was arrested Feb. 3 after police said he physically abused a mentally disabled 11-year-old boy, according to a Gainesville Police arrest report.
Ferguson had picked up the boy — who has cognitive delay, chromosome abnormality, seizures disorder, peripheral neuropathy and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder — and his 4-year-old brother for the weekend Jan. 27, according to the report. On Jan. 30, the boy’s mother found bruising on his back and arms while he was getting undressed.
According to the report, both the boy and his brother told their mother someone had hit him. That individual’s name was redacted from the report.
Ferguson was placed on paid administrative leave immediately following the arrest and faced a charge of child abuse, said ACSO spokesperson Sgt. Chris Sims.
Since joining ACSO in 1999, Ferguson worked in patrol units and spent about seven years on the K-9 unit. Sims said Ferguson’s most recent appointment was as a school resource officer at Fort Clarke Middle School.
In January 2014, Ferguson’s ex-wife filed for injunction for protection against domestic violence, according to Alachua County Court records.
On June 27, the State Attorney’s Office dropped the child abuse charge, citing “insufficient evidence to sustain a conviction,” according to court records.
ACSO, however, felt there was enough evidence turned up during the investigation to justify firing Ferguson. Sims said a monthslong investigation revealed a “preponderance” of evidence pointing to Ferguson’s criminal conduct that led to his firing.
“(The State Attorney’s) act of not pursuing a case doesn’t mean that a person is innocent of a crime, or that they didn’t commit that crime,” Sims said. “It’s just that the state doesn’t believe they can prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Aside from the investigation, Sims said Ferguson’s arrest alone was grounds for the firing per ACSO policy. If a deputy is arrested for criminal conduct, or if the deputy faces criminal charges, Sims said it’s within the sheriff’s office’s right to immediately fire the deputy.
“Inevitably, that day we could have fired him,” Sims said, referring to Ferguson’s Feb. 3 arrest.
ACSO Deputy Clint Ferguson pictured in January 2016 with his former police dog Vader. Ferguson was fired Thursday after an investigation into allegations of criminal conduct and child abuse.
