2 Pinellas deputies arrested for using law enforcement databases to track teen girl, woman: PCSO
PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. - Two Pinellas County sheriff’s deputies were arrested following separate investigations into the illegal use of law enforcement databases for personal reasons, according to Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri in a press conference on Wednesday.
Pinellas deputy database misuse
What we know:
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri detailed two unrelated cases involving former deputies using databases to gather personal information on a teen girl and woman.
The first case involves 33-year-old Travis Stanton, who first interacted with a 17-year-old fast food worker on July 28, 2026.
Courtesy: Pinellas County Sheriff's Office
The sheriff stated the girl told Stanton she was 17 and what car she drives.
After leaving the restaurant, Stanton used a database to run the plate on her car and pull personal records, according to PCSO.
Database searches
Timeline:
The sheriff said Stanton returned to the restaurant at least nine times from July to September.
PCSO said Stanton conducted numerous unauthorized system searches and even used the system to find the girl's home address and look up her mother and sister.
PCSO said on Aug. 19, he checked her license plate, drove to her high school to find her car, and accessed photos of the teen and her sister five times from the parking lot. Stanton also took a photo of the girl's ID with his agency-issued phone, according to officials.
During his visits to the restaurant, PCSO stated Stanton stayed for 20 minutes at a time and asked for the girl. During one visit, PCSO said he inadvertently recorded a 17-minute conversation where he asked if she wanted to see a photo of a dead body from a fatal motorcycle crash he had photographed with his agency phone. In the conversation, the sheriff said Stanton can be heard stating he knows she is a minor.
Stanton told the girl that he had received a hit on her car, and that it alerted him to her driver's license being suspended for truancy. The sheriff explained this was false, and is not possible, because the car is registered to the girl's mother. Law enforcement states Stanton continued to visit the restaurant after this interaction.
Resignation and felony charges
What's next:
Stanton was placed on unpaid administrative leave and resigned. He was arrested Wednesday on two felony counts of unlawful access and official misconduct, with bond set at $10,000.
Second deputy investigation
What we don't know:
Authorities have not released whether additional staff will face disciplinary action regarding a phone conversation and other in-person conversations Stanton had with other deputies about the teenager he reoffered to as his, "queen."
Dating interest database queries
The backstory:
In an unrelated case, PCSO said 57-year-old Karl Gwynne was arrested for using secure systems to look up a 35-year-old woman he wanted to date. Gwynn had previously arrested the woman in 2010, according to the PCSO.
Courtesy: Pinellas County Sheriff's Office
An internal audit revealed Gwynn searched the woman’s records 381 times across five different databases, including 207 queries made while he was off duty. PCSO said the searches spanned from Jan. 2025 to July 2026.
The sheriff's office said Gwynne also let the female and her mother stay in a condo he owns in 2025. PCSO said Gwynne bought her gifts and said he wanted to date her. She rejected his advances and said she just wanted to be friends, according to law enforcement.
Officials state that Gwynne resigned from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office the day he was questioned about the misuse.
Gwynn faces four counts of unlawful access and one count of official misconduct, with bond set at $25,000.
Gwynne faces four counts of access computer electronic device without authority and one count of official misconduct.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, who detailed the arrests and investigation details during a press conference.