San Jose fire captain charged with attempted lewd acts on 13-year-old

SAN JOSE, Calif. - A former San Jose Fire Department captain is facing three counts of trying to perform lewd acts on a 13-year-old girl.

City Manager Jennifer Maguire said that Spencer Parker is "no longer employed" by San Jose. She did not say if he was fired or if he left on his own.  He was employed by the city at the time of his arrest. 

"I am disgusted by the allegations. This individual no longer works for our department.  We are working closely with law enforcement agencies to make sure a thorough investigation is done and justice is served," said San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan. 

Parker's attorney, Philip Cozens of Sacramento, declined comment on the April 3 charges against him filed in Sacramento County, as the alleged acts took place in Folsom at the end of March. 

Each of the counts is a felony. Court documents allege Parker sent illicit pictures to a girl he thought was 13 years old. All the alleged crimes occurred between March 28 through March 30, 2024, according to the felony complaint filed with the Superior Court in Sacramento County. 

Parker's April 1 arrest comes ahead of a planned news conference Monday in Sacramento, where Sheriff Jim Cooper and other police agencies plan to announce the results of a "large-scale" sting against people accused of committing internet crimes against children. 

The Sheriff's Office said there were more than 20 arrests from that operation. 

According to the San Jose Fire Department, Spencer was promoted to captain in 2021. 

This incident follows another incident, in October 2022, when a bikini-clad woman was seen exiting the cab of a San Jose fire truck while it was parked outside an adult entertainment business.  An investigation found many city and fire department regulations were violated and a fire captain was demoted as a result.

"These kinds of incidents are unfair, frankly, to the rest of the public servants at city hall and within our fire service and in other departments who wake up every day and want to serve our community and work hard to do so," Mahan said. 

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department said it will not be releasing any additional information ahead of its news conference on Monday about what it calls "Operation Spring Cleaning."