A Pinellas County Sheriff’s deputy met a 17-year-old girl at the fast-food restaurant where she worked, ran her car’s license plate from his patrol computer that same day, and later allegedly told her a fabricated story to explain how he knew her license was suspended. That sequence of events, according to investigators, is what happens when database access and a badge are used for personal rather than official purposes.
Deputy Travis Stanton, 33, was arrested on charges of unlawful computer access and official misconduct. He had already resigned while under investigation, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.
The Searches
Investigators say Stanton ran restricted database queries on the girl, her twin sister, and her mother, then allegedly lied about why he had the information.
On July 28, according to the sheriff’s office, Stanton met the girl at her workplace and learned she was 17 and drove a Nissan Altima. That same day, investigators said, he ran the vehicle’s plate through the Florida Crime Information Center using his patrol-car computer.
The search returned the car’s registration to the girl’s mother, giving Stanton the family’s home address. Investigators said Stanton subsequently conducted driver-license and records-management searches on the girl, her twin sister, and their mother while operating near Seminole High School, where both sisters were enrolled.
The sheriff’s office said he also used an agency cellphone to photograph a driver-license image pulled from the database. To justify some searches within the system, Stanton allegedly entered a verification code classifying them as identity checks, though investigators concluded those searches had no legitimate law-enforcement purpose.
When supervisors questioned him, Stanton reportedly acknowledged that “curiosity got the better of him.” Investigators said Stanton allegedly told the girl that an automated license-plate reader had flagged her license as suspended for truancy. Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said that claim was false and that Stanton had obtained the information through unauthorized database access.
“Running the plate of a 17-year-old girl who you are interested in is clearly inappropriate and clearly unlawful,” Gualtieri said. The girl had reported to the sheriff’s office that Stanton repeatedly visited her workplace and made her uncomfortable. That report triggered the investigation.
Stanton posted bond totaling $10,000 after his arrest. No defense attorney was listed in court records, and he could not immediately be reached for comment.
A Second Deputy, A Broader Problem
Deputy Karl Gwynne allegedly ran 381 database queries targeting a woman who had rejected him, including roughly 300 searches of her license plate.
The Stanton case was not the only arrest the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office announced that day. Deputy Karl Gwynne, 57, faces four counts of unlawful computer access and one count of official misconduct. He resigned on Sept. 11.
According to the sheriff’s office, Gwynne made 381 total database queries targeting a 35-year-old woman he wanted to date. Roughly 300 were searches of her vehicle through the agency’s automated license-plate recognition system. An additional 81 queries ran across the Florida Crime Information Center and other law-enforcement databases.
Gwynne initially claimed the searches were official, according to investigators, but later admitted the woman had rejected his advances. The investigation into Gwynne began after a media inquiry flagged unusual activity in a publicly accessible ALPR log, which then prompted an internal audit.
The cases arrived as Florida’s Department of Transportation was already pulling back on ALPR deployments. On Aug. 31, FDOT revoked permits for license-plate reader systems installed within state-highway rights of way and gave agencies 30 days to remove affected cameras, citing privacy concerns and reported misuse. That action is limited to cameras on state roads and does not constitute a blanket prohibition on all local ALPR use.
Gualtieri has defended the technology as valuable for homicide investigations, stolen vehicle cases, and locating missing persons, while acknowledging the need for stronger internal controls. “There’s no perfect in this world, and cops aren’t perfect, either,” he said. “But when they mess up, we’re going to hold them accountable.”
Privacy and oversight concerns raised by both cases illustrate what can happen when law-enforcement database access lacks rigorous auditing. San José Has a Flock Problem that mirrors these dynamics, and the charges against both Stanton and Gwynne remain allegations; neither case has resulted in a conviction.
