Hancock County deputy resigns amid assault allegations

Hancock County Sheriff’s Office has had a rash of deputies in trouble — and there’s another one added to the list.

Media partner the Sun Herald reports that former patrol deputy Joseph “Joe” Gendreau turned himself in last week at the D’Iberville Police Department and was charged with simple assault, according to Chief Shannon Nobles.

He was released on $2,500 bond after his arrest.

Gendreau is accused of making unwanted sexual advances on a woman on June 4, making “inappropriate sexual insinuations” and allegedly soliciting the woman for sex.

Nobles told the Sun Herald officers reviewed video footage to identify Gendreau, who went to the business after finishing an overnight shift as a security guard at a nearby bar in D’Iberville.

Hancock County Sheriff Ricky Adam said Gendreau resigned before his arrest in D’Iberville. He had been a patrol deputy about a year.

Gendreau’s arrest is just the latest of a string of deputies who are accused of wrongdoing while working for Hancock County:

Former K9 deputy Colin Freeman resigned in October after the Sun Herald investigated his 2021 arrest for domestic violence by simple assault.

Hancock County narcotics commander Benjamin Taylor was fired this month after the Sun Herald reported that Taylor allegedly falsified court documents to deny he fathered a girlfriend’s child.

Hancock County deputy Derrick Flanagan was terminated and charged with two counts of exploitation of children and accessing child pornography in February after a tip came in about someone accessing child porn at the Sheriff’s Department.