By Andy Bell-Baltaci | Daily Journal
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EDINBURGH — An Edinburgh police officer who had served as a school resource officer in Edinburgh schools has been accused of molesting a minor over the course of six years, from 2014 to 2020.
Nunez was named the school resource officer for Edinburgh schools in December 2019.
Michael David Nunez faces two counts of child molestation, for actions that took place from July 1 to Dec. 31 of 2014, and from Oct. 1 to Nov. 30, 2020. Since the alleged victim was younger than 14 years old and Nunez, 33, is older than 21 years old, both counts have been upgraded to Level 1 felonies, both counts carrying a possible sentence of 20 to 50 years in prison, or a maximum of 100 years in prison for consecutive sentences, according to a joint news release from the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office and Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office.
The prosecutor’s office set bond at $160,000 cash only, and Nunez’s case will be assigned to Johnson Superior Court 3, according to the release.
Nunez’s Tuesday arrest comes after police officers and sheriff’s deputies first found Nunez at about 2:59 a.m. Dec. 30 in the area of River Road and Triangle Road in Camp Atterbury, where he was sitting in his vehicle. He was then transported to a nearby hospital for immediate detention. Later that day, the prosecutor’s office filed charges on two counts of child molestation, and Nunez was arrested upon his release from the hospital.
Nunez’s arrest comes after an investigation that was spurred by someone who knew the victim, who then contacted Edinburgh police about the molestation incidents. A sheriff’s deputy interviewed the alleged victim, now 12 years old, and the person who made the accusations against Nunez.
For more on this story, see Wednesday’s Republic.
