CMPD officer charged with threatening release of sexual images for money
A Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer was arrested Monday on allegations that he threatened to share explicit photos of a person with their friends and family unless they paid the officer $10,000.
Officer Joel Medina, 30, was charged with one count of felony extortion and one count of felony disclosure of private images, a CMPD press release said.
“Investigators determined that the incident occurred outside of work and did not involve the functions of his job,” the press release said.
According to an arrest warrant, Medina on Feb. 14 disclosed an explicit photo of another person with the intent to harass or humiliate them. The warrant doesn’t provide further detail, but says, the “victim’s intimate parts were exposed in the disclosed image and the victim was engaged in sexual conduct in the disclosed image.”
Police Chief Johnny Jennings said in the police press release that he was “disheartened” by the arrest.
“An officer’s arrest is not just a personal failure but a breach of public trust,” Jennings said. “The trust of our community is paramount, and we will not tolerate any conduct that undermines that trust.”
Medina was hired on Feb. 28, 2022 and is assigned to the Eastway Division, the department press release said. He is now on unpaid leave.
He was released after his arrest on a written promise to appear in court.
