Police Serial Rapist Sentenced to 3 Years

This is an old story.  But most of the time the stories I care most about don't make national headlines, as this one didn't.  So it takes me a while to find and report them with my limited resources.

From DOJ:
Jesus Manuel Menocal Jr., 34, a former Hialeah Police Department sergeant, was sentenced in federal court in Miami, Florida, to three years in prison and one year of supervised release, the statutory maximum sentence. 
Menocal previously pleaded guilty to three counts of violating the civil rights of women by sexually exploiting them.
“The Department of Justice will not tolerate police officers who abuse their authority to prey on those they are sworn to protect,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Civil Rights Division. “The Civil Rights Division will continue to vigorously prosecute these cases to secure justice for the victims of these reprehensible crimes and to ensure that perpetrators who use their unique power to take advantage of others are held accountable.”

The DOJ is super proud of itself for giving an on-duty cop serial rapist a big three years in prison after he pled guilty.  The State of Florida gave him a walk.  The rapes were all free and clear.  We could only agree, as a society, that raping people with your badge and gun is a violation of their civil rights.  But the raping itself is a freebie.

When I went to research this, the first thing I found was this "tactical training" center by the same name.  Jesus Menocal shouldn't be out of prison and training people how to be excellent police officers yet, so I was confused.  Well, it turns out Jesus Menocal is a junior.

From the linked website, with emphasis added:

"Jesus “Jessie” Menocal Sr. has over 33 years of active law enforcement experience. He served as Chief of Police in a South Florida municipality for 10 ½ years and remains an active law enforcement officer with a local municipality. Since 1987, Jessie has been an active instructor for the Police Academy and was instrumental in the development and implementation of the active shooter curriculum. He also brings his expertise in active shooter protocols to the private sector as well. Jessie is an NRA certified firearms instructor. During his career, he has organized and hosted the SWAT Commanders meeting for various Federal, State and local agencies.

Okay, so his father can tug very hard on the local strings to make sure that his son doesn't get prosecuted.  And lo and behold, locally in Florida, he wasn't.  If it was up to local law enforcement, Jessie, Jr. would probably still be out there Holtzclawing merrily away.

Even after being sentenced, Meniscal wasn't taken into custody right away.  He was given another 60 days to surrender whenever it suited him.

As noted, his lawyer spent six minutes victim shaming, and also for whatever reason mentioned Antifa.  Look at the Meniscal family website and yes, they look like the sort of Antifa hunters who are proud of their admitted serial rapist son, the former police officer.

Bottom line, Meniscal got less than one year per admitted rape.  As noted in the video report linked above, "the state called them unreliable witnesses and declined to file charges."  Even with bodycams, GPS in the vehicles, cameras in every room, where there's a will to permit rape, there's a way.   He was facing life in prison.  But no.

When the chief of Hialeah stands at the podium and says bad apples, gives the old "this isn't who we are," I call bullshit.

"This incident involving one individual is in no way a reflection of the police department."

Except yes of course it is.  Just like all those priests are a reflection of the Catholic Church that protected them.  He did all of that on your watch, sir.  And then someone had to come in from over your head, the DOJ, to slap him on the wrists.  If not for DOJ, he'd still be raping minors as a sergeant in your office.