PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — A Palm Beach County Deputy has been fired from their position after an Internal Affairs investigation uncovered inappropriate text messages with two 18-year-old high school students.
The 29-page internal affairs investigation spans over a year. It found that while inappropriate, the messages sent to the two 18-year-old high school students by the now former deputy Eric Devaul did not break any laws, but did violate the Sheriff’s Office Code of Conduct. The complaints made by the two students say that nothing physical happened and that it "started out innocent."
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The report says Deuval would engage in inappropriate conversations while on and off duty. Making comments like “I wanna kidnap you,” would often joke about using his handcuffs and would even “randomly ask if she wanted to help him shower.” One witness went on to say that the deputy approached her as she was walking home and activated his emergency lights to "possibly scare her." The unnamed witness went on to tell investigators that while talking to him, he was asking her where she lived and made a comment that if she did not answer him, he would come over to her house and harass her.
And while none of this is considered criminal, it still does, according to the report, violate the PBSO code of conduct. It led to his firing in March of this year.
When interviewed about his actions Deuval told investigators that he was “trying to mess with her head”. When investigators asked him if he thought that behavior was appropriate, he replied, "no, it was dumb."
WPTV’s Michael Hoffman called former Deputy Deuval to get his side of the story, he did not answer or return my messages.
Hoffman spoke with Tim Miller. A former Secret Service agent, with decades of law enforcement experience, about the investigation. He backs the Sheriff's department's disciplinary actions.
“Fortunately, Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office did exactly the right thing. He made decisions that, clearly, according to Florida Statute, are not illegal, but they're highly inappropriate and should require disciplinary action, which did occur in this kudos to Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.
Hoffman reached out to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office for comment, to which they replied:
“The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office holds all deputies to the highest standards of conduct, both on and off duty, as outlined in our Rules and Regulations Code of Conduct. Following a recent internal review, Deputy Sheriff Eric Devaul was found to have engaged in conduct that did not align with these standards."
PBSO remains committed to transparency, accountability, and public trust. We will continue to uphold the integrity of our agency and expect every member of this office to meet the professional and ethical standards required to serve and protect our community.”
