Madeline Soto update: Marcos Lopez, Osceola County Sheriff, faces $500 fine over posting investigative photo

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. - The State Attorney's office is questioning Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez's truthfulness about a photo posted online of Madeline Soto's lifeless body. 

While under oath, Sheriff Lopez said posting the photo of Soto's body was a mistake, according to State Attorney Andrew Bain. Sheriff Lopez said during a radio interview about the photo a few days before making that statement, "It wasn't actually the body."

The sheriff is not facing charges for posting the photo, but he could still be punished. 

Bain wrote a letter to Lopez, citing his concern about the conflicting stories. 

Bain formally requested an internal investigation into Lopez's statements in the letter to determine whether they violated Osceola County's Sheriff's Office standard of conduct. Bain also asked for the investigation to be overlooked by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). 

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In a statement in response to the state attorney's decision to file a civil citation, a fine up to $500, the Osceola County Sheriff's Office said:

"Yesterday, the State Attorney’s Office released a letter regarding a photograph inadvertently disclosed by the Sheriff. Sheriff Lopez initially received this photograph because our agency first found Madeline Soto’s body and a photo of the scene was sent to the Sheriff, per protocol. The photograph was inadvertently posted in a photo array about a senior citizen event and was taken down within 10 minutes of realizing the error. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigated this incident and found no intentional wrongdoing. The State still decided to file a civil citation. The Sheriff accepts and understands the civil fine being brought by the State. However, the State calling the Sheriff’s integrity and credibility into question is not right. The State has misinterpreted a quote from the Sheriff explaining what the photograph depicted. The photograph showed clothing, but identifying features of a body were not visible. The Sheriff’s statement was not a lie, nor was it untruthful."

Once that investigation is complete, Bain's office will determine if Lopez should be added to the "Brady list," a public-facing database of information about police misconduct, public complaints, and use-of-force reports.