A 37-year-old NYPD sergeant turned himself in to authorities in the Bronx on Thursday morning, accused of stalking a female subordinate online and sharing her naked photos after she ended their relationship. Sgt. Joel Dejesus, who joined the department in 2012, faces an indictment unsealed in Bronx Supreme Court alleging he misused police computer systems to track his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend.
According to the New York Post, prosecutors and sources said Dejesus faces charges of computer trespass, official misconduct, and unlawful dissemination or publication of an intimate image. The indictment alleges Dejesus disseminated or published the woman's explicit photos between July 13 and July 31, 2024, after their relationship ended, sources told the outlet. A separate allegation in the court document says Dejesus accessed NYPD computer systems without authorization on multiple dates from August 10, 2024, through July 27, 2025, to look up his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend, according to sources cited by the Post.
A report from The Bronx Daily identified Dejesus as an off-duty New York City employee arrested at 9:15 a.m. Thursday and charged with unauthorized use of a computer. The Bronx Daily notes that the investigation remains ongoing. The whereabouts of where the intimate images were allegedly distributed were not immediately clear, per the Post's sourcing.
Arraignment and Department Response
Dejesus was released on his own recognizance at his arraignment Thursday, since the charges he faces are not eligible for bail, the Post reported. He is next scheduled to appear in court on December 16. The NYPD has suspended Dejesus without pay, according to the same report, though the station's account does not detail further internal discipline.
The specific statutory language matters here. Under New York Penal Law § 245.15, a person is guilty of unlawful dissemination or publication of an intimate image when, with intent to cause harm to another person's emotional, financial or physical welfare, they intentionally disseminate or publish an image depicting that person. Separately, New York Penal Law § 156.10 defines computer trespass as knowingly using or accessing a computer, computer service or computer network without authorization, paired with additional intent spelled out in the statute. A New York court decision in People v. Christopher H., handled by the New York State Unified Court System, identifies unlawful dissemination of an intimate image as a class A misdemeanor in that case — though that ruling does not determine how the Dejesus charges will play out.
Part of a Wider Pattern Nationally
Dejesus's case lands amid a string of similar allegations against officers elsewhere accused of exploiting police technology to track former partners. A Washington Post investigation, cited by the Los Angeles Times, found that at least 50 police officers across the United States had been accused of illegally using license-plate readers to stalk or harass women. In one of the cases the Times detailed, Bell Police Officer James Ixcoy was accused of hiding a tracking device on his ex-girlfriend's car and illegally accessing a California DMV database, while a Riverside County sheriff's deputy accused of using police resources to pursue a woman later pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges.
Separately, CNN reported that the Institute for Justice has tracked at least 47 instances of officers being disciplined for alleged abuse of the Flock Safety camera network to stalk romantic interests. In one case CNN detailed, Kentucky officer Asad Zahir was arrested after investigators said he conducted 2,048 Flock searches on two vehicles tied to his ex-girlfriend, including 241 searches logged while an order of protection was active against him.
Other recent cases echo the pattern at smaller scale. A Buffalo police officer, Benjamin Coughlin, pleaded not guilty after allegedly threatening his ex-girlfriend and her new partner and was released on his own recognizance, according to WKBW. In Oregon, federal prosecutors said a Granite Bay, California man pleaded guilty to cyberstalking his ex-girlfriend and posting sexually explicit photos of her online, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
No attorney for Dejesus or response from the Bronx District Attorney's Office was included in the available reporting beyond the account of his surrender and arraignment. His case remains open ahead of the December court date, with investigators continuing to examine the full scope of the allegations.
