Key facts
- Robert Dillon is suing Florida police for wrongful arrest, alleging reliance on faulty facial recognition technology.
- The facial recognition system flagged Dillon with a 93% match to a suspect in a child luring incident.
- Dillon lives over 300 miles from the crime scene, and evidence indicated he was not in the area.
- The lawsuit claims police concealed exculpatory evidence and failed to conduct a thorough investigation.
- Charges against Dillon were dropped after more than two months, and he is seeking damages and policy changes.
A Florida man, Robert Dillon, has filed a wrongful arrest lawsuit against Jacksonville Beach police and other law enforcement agencies, alleging they relied on a flawed facial recognition system and withheld exculpatory evidence. Dillon was arrested in August 2024 on suspicion of attempting to lure a child, based on a 93% facial recognition match to a suspect filmed at a McDonald's.
Dillon, a 52-year-old resident of Fort Myers, lives over 300 miles from Jacksonville Beach. The lawsuit claims that police failed to investigate evidence that would have cleared him, such as license plate reader data showing neither of his vehicles were detected in the county during the relevant period. The facial recognition match was reportedly based on a low-quality image from a surveillance camera screen.
The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Middle District of Florida, names the City of Jacksonville Beach, Corporal Scott O’Connell, Sheriff T.K. Waters, Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, and Sergeant James Walters as defendants. It states the facial recognition system used, FACES, is maintained by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office and accessed by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office for itself and partner agencies.
After more than two months, all charges against Dillon were dropped by the State Attorney’s Office. The lawsuit alleges malicious prosecution and seeks financial damages, along with changes to how police departments utilize facial recognition technology. The ACLU, representing Dillon, highlighted that he is one of 15 known individuals in the U.S. to have experienced such a wrongful identification.
Dillon was arrested at his home, held in jail overnight, and had to post bond, with his mugshot remaining publicly accessible. The suit contends that Corporal O’Connell omitted crucial exculpatory information from the arrest warrant affidavit, including the license plate reader results and a prior conversation with Dillon where he denied involvement and described a distinctive scar. The affidavit also allegedly failed to disclose that facial recognition results are considered unreliable and do not constitute probable cause under the Jacksonville Beach PD's own policy.
Furthermore, the lawsuit criticizes the Jacksonville Beach PD for hiring Corporal O’Connell, citing his documented history of misconduct, including previous termination and arrest, before assigning him as the lead investigator in this sensitive case.