PANAMA CITY — A Bay County Sheriff’s deputy has been fired after his arrest on suspicion he molested a child multiple times, according to the BCSO.
David K. Mudge, 24, was arrested and charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious molestation on a victim under 12 years old after investigators with the Department of Children and Families notified the Sheriff’s Office of a complaint of possible molestation. After investigating the claim, deputies arrested Mudge on Tuesday. He was fired immediately, according to BCSO officials.
Maj. Tommy Ford personally delivered the notice of termination to Mudge, who was still in field training after only recently being hired.
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“There were no indications that he had any of this in his past,” Ford said. “I am personally angered that he chose this profession.”
The victim told investigators Mudge molested him or her on three occasions in 2014, twice in Bay County and once in Valdosta, Ga., where police opened a separate investigation and which has resulted in a warrant being issued for Mudge.
The victim said the incidents occurred before Nov. 1, which is when Mudge was hired by the Sheriff’s Office. Evaluations conducted during the BCSO hiring process came up negative for a criminal history.
Mudge also passed a computerized voice stress analysis, designed to detect signs of deception during the interview, Ford said.
Prior to his employment with BCSO, Mudge was employed as a substitute teacher by Bay District Schools and was a server at restaurants in Bay County, but he had been unemployed since July, according to his employee record.
Mudge majored in criminology at Florida State University.
He is being held in the Bay County Jail on $100,000 bond. The judge has ordered Mudge to not have contact with the victim.