A deputy chief of the Cartersville Police Department was arrested Thursday after paying for what he thought was a prostitute in Florida, authorities said.
Jason DiPrima was arrested in Polk County, Florida, and charged with soliciting prostitution, lewdness or assignation, Cartersville police said.
“As I understand, after talking to (DiPrima’s) chief, he’s been there almost 30 years, graduated from the FBI Academy. Well-respected police officer in town,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said during a news conference Tuesday. “Did you notice I said in town? But he was out of town.”
DiPrima, who began working with Cartersville police in 1996, was in Orlando attending an American Polygraph Association seminar and workshop when he responded to an online escort advertisement, Judd added.
He began by exchanging messages with an undercover detective by asking, “Are you available tonight” and “I’d like to come see you — What is your rate?” the day before his arrest, the sheriff’s office said. DiPrima eventually agreed to engage in sexual activities with the undercover detective, the sheriff’s office said, but then told the detective he got “spooked” and asked to see her the next night.
On the day of his arrest, DiPrima reached out to the undercover detective and agreed to go to a location to meet, according to officials.
“On Thursday night, he just couldn’t resist the urge to be with our undercover detective who he thought was a high-class prostitute,” Judd said.
He agreed to pay the undercover detective $120 for a half-hour of “full service” sex, the sheriff’s office said. When DiPrima arrived at the location just before midnight, authorities said he confirmed the arrangement by giving the undercover detective $180 and a multi-pack of White Claw Hard Seltzer.
“He’s in one of the undercover vehicles when he shows up at our undercover operation — in the government vehicle — carrying alcoholic beverages,” Judd said. “So ostensibly, this guy has come to have sex with a prostitute while driving the Cartersville police undercover vehicle.”
But that wasn’t DiPrima’s first time soliciting a prostitute in Florida, officials said. He told the undercover detective that he had engaged with another prostitute online for $200 the night before, according to Judd. The alleged prostitute asked DiPrima to get a Cash App card with the money and send her a picture of it, he told the undercover detective.
“This guy is a cop. And he was flimflammed and conned by a prostitute,” Judd said. “She took the information off the card, got the $200 and left him high and dry.”
DiPrima was arrested and booked into the Polk County Jail. He was released Saturday morning on $500 bond.
Cartersville police confirmed that DiPrima has been placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation.
His arrest was part of a weeklong human trafficking operation conducted by the Polk sheriff’s office and other law enforcement agencies in the area. The purpose of the operation was to identify those involved in human trafficking and arrest those who procure and engage in prostitution.
“If all else fails, he can write a book: ‘How to Ruin Your Career in Three Easy Steps,’” Judd said. “He’s got a beautiful wife, a great family. ... He’s managed, obviously, to create a great deal of angst with his family. His police chief is angry beyond words, which I certainly, clearly understand. He’s embarrassed the city.”
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