A detective with the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office is on paid administrative leave after a jail inmate accused him of sexual misconduct, officials said.

Detective Sgt. T.J. Brock, 51, was placed on leave after sheriff’s officials learned from the FBI on Friday that a 39-year-old female inmate at the Okeechobee County Jail reported the incident, Undersheriff Noel Stephen said Tuesday.

Stephen said the woman told investigators the incident took place at the sheriff’s office, but Stephen declined to explain how the woman, who had been incarcerated since April on a misdemeanor charge, would have allegedly made her way from the jail to the sheriff’s office.

The undersheriff said ongoing criminal and internal investigations prevented him from discussing the case in detail.

Stephen, however, did say the woman was not raped.

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Eric Ferguson

At 12:01 a.m., a sheriff’s deputy responded to Raulerson Hospital in Okeechobee County where he met with the wife of Deputy Eric Scott Ferguson.

The woman reported she and her husband had argued and said that later Ferguson, 39, struck her in the face as she lay in bed. The woman’s face was bruised and swollen, according to a sheriff’s news release.

The wife also said Ferguson has been violent with her before and she asked not to press charges.

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OKEECHOBEE — A 16-year-old boy was found dead at his Okeechobee County jail cell on Tuesday, his death likely a suicide, officials said.

Shortly before 4:30 p.m., detention deputies found Nelson Brewer hanging by a bed sheet from the top bunk, about five feet from the floor, according to a news release from the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office.

Fire Rescue was called to the scene, but Brewer was pronounced dead soon after its arrival.
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