CHULA VISTA (KGTV) — He served with the Chula Vista Police Department for 13 years. During his tenure, Matthew Davison worked directly with children as a school resource officer in Chula Vista schools.
What wasn’t known to the public at the time was that Davison admitted to possessing sexually explicit images of an underage girl.
This incident happened several years ago. Matthew Davison was arrested in 2019 and sentenced in 2022.
According to a police spokesperson, Davison was assigned as a school resource officer beginning in June 2017, primarily working at elementary schools but responding to calls at most K through 12 schools in the city.
The following year, federal prosecutors said Davison started messaging with a 16-year-old girl online. Court documents showed Davison “encouraged her to engage in sexual activity and send him videos of that activity.”
The FBI took the lead on this case.
A Chula Vista police spokesperson told ABC 10News anchor Melissa Mecija the department was not actively involved in the investigation, saying the department was not privy to many details of it.
ABC 10News spoke to Dr. Ron Martinelli, a police expert and forensic criminologist, to break down the general process in these types of cases.
“When we're dealing with things over the internet, over the phone system, something like this, that's at a higher level of investigation. Also, it’s automatically a federal crime,” Martinelli said. “The FBI, the United States Department of Justice, is going to be the investigative agency.”
According to court records, in August 2018, Davison created a false online identity and contacted the girl on Facebook. He then started an online relationship with her, asking for inappropriate images and videos of her private areas.
According to CVPD, the FBI alerted the department in February 2019 that a police employee was under investigation. A day later, federal law enforcement detained Davison. The police department placed him on administrative leave, and Davison resigned in April of that year. Court documents said Davison took an oath to serve and protect, but he instead exploited this child online.
When asked if law enforcement agencies have an obligation to inform the public, Martinelli said, “I believe that there is a duty by the police department to at least let the local school and maybe even the school district, depending on where the evidence takes them … to let them know.”
He added that he is not surprised law enforcement did not reach out to the media because at that point, the investigation was still ongoing and there was no trial. Having an outside federal agency handle the case was “very appropriate” so that there was no bias on the part of the police department that could be claimed.
The FBI released a statement that said in part:
“When investigating crimes against children and it is determined a subject has direct access to children as a part of his/her job responsibilities, the FBI would contact the subject’s employer as soon as possible to allow the employer to consider an administrative response. The FBI typically defers to the employer’s internal protocols for any such administrative action they deem appropriate.
In the referenced investigation, there was no information discovered during our investigation that the subject had victimized any children under his charge as an SRO or even attempted to make physical or virtual contact with a minor within the San Diego region.”
Court records showed Davison previously served in the Marines and had “been exposed to extreme stressors in his life.”
“However, it remains unclear how his mental issues led him down this path,” the sentencing memorandum said.
When asked if there should have been more awareness regarding the situation—considering Davison worked with children—a CVPD spokesperson said they were advised no inappropriate contact took place with anyone in the county.
“Notwithstanding, the Chula Vista Police Department does not ever condone or tolerate inappropriate conduct of its employees with minors, and holds its officers and employees to the highest legal and professional standards at all times,” the statement said.
Davidson entered a plea deal and was sentenced to 72 months in federal prison. He is currently serving his sentence out of state.
Both the Chula Vista Elementary and Sweetwater Union High School Districts said school resource officers are not their employees and are contracted by the department. It's not clear which elementary schools Davison worked in at the time. Both CVPD and the FBI emphasized that no local children were impacted.
