Deputy Receives Punishment for Mistake in Jorelys Rivera Search

The deputy who failed to report the sight of blood in a vacant apartment where 7-year-old Jorelys Rivera is believed to have been killed has lost his spot in the agency's field training program and the incentive pay that came along with it, Sheriff Roger Garrison said at a press conference this afternoon.

The deputy, a 3-year veteran who was not identified, also received a 36-hour suspension that will only be enforced if he has other infractions over the next 12 months. He must undergo additional training in "crime scene processing and child victim investigations fundamentals," Garrison said.

During a check of units at the apartment community where the first-grader lived and died, the deputy and a trainee cleared what authorities later said was the crime scene, Garrison told WSB-TV on Wednesday. At the time, officials thought they were looking for a missing child, not a dead body.

Originally, Garrison said that both officials would be disciplined. This morning, an agency spokesman said the trainee would not be punished.

"The officer is extremely remorseful," Garrison said as he stood outside the sheriff's headquarters. "He has verbally indicated that he accepts that punishment and is ready to move forward."

Jorelys was . The , which spearheaded the search and has faced , did not call in the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's Child Abduction Response Team until Dec. 4. 

In his strongest words since the search for Jorelys began, Garrison said today that "the CART team should have been activated overnight.

"They should have been in place early Saturday morning (Dec. 3). And if all those things had taken place, we would not be standing here having this conversation about the actions of that deputy."

The team didn't join the search until 7 a.m. Dec. 5. Within hours, authorities  in a Dumpster from the apartment. An autopsy found that she likely died 60 to 90 minutes after she disappeared. Jorelys had been , GBI director Vernon Keenan said during a Dec. 6 press conference.

After today's press conference, Canton Police Chief Jeff Lance told Canton-Sixes Patch that his department is focused on making sure the person "who we have who has done this horrendous crime to this little girl is convicted.

"Our focus is not to scrutinize other departments and what they've done. The sheriff has his prerogative on his comments. He's allowed to say what he feels. If there's issues or problems out there that we did, we'll make adjustments. We'll fix those problems. We're open-minded. We're not close-minded in anything that we do here."

With lingering questions over how the handled the search for slain 7-year-old Jorelys Rivera, Canton Mayor Gene Hobgood announced during Thursday's council meeting that .

"To learn from any shortcomings and to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our department," he said Thursday night. "And for no other reason."

Last Wednesday, authorities arrested , a 20-year-old River Ridge maintenance worker who Keenan said had access to the trash compactor where Jorelys was found. He remains in isolation in the on charges of murder and making false statements. A date for his arraignment has not been set.

Cherokee County District Attorney Garry Moss' office is expected to file additional charges against Brunn in the "near future," Keenan said last Wednesday.

No new charges have been filed yet, an official at the Cherokee County Magistrate Court said today.

After a public , a candlelight and a public in Canton last weekend, Jorelys' body was flown to her native Puerto Rico, where she was buried Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.

For all of Canton-Sixes Patch's coverage of the Jorelys Rivera case, go to http://canton-ga.patch.com/topics/jorelys-rivera.