PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. – A sheriff’s sergeant in Florida working at a juvenile detention facility has been arrested after she reportedly wrote several inappropriate letters to a 16-year-old male inmate.
Sgt. Katelyn Gomez, 27, is charged with a single count of solicitation of a child to engage in an act that constitutes sexual battery by a person in familial or custodial authority, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office announced on Wednesday. Once the sergeant was taken into custody, she was booked at the Pinellas County Jail, FOX 13 Tampa Bay reported.
According to PCSO, approximately 10 inappropriate letters allegedly written by Gomez were discovered in the 16-year-old inmate’s bed at the Juvenile Detention Center on 140th Avenue North in Clearwater.
Detectives were summoned to investigate and they concluded the letters were authored by Gomez, who began working at the facility on Jan. 5.
“The letters explicitly described what would take place during their first sexual encounter and described an ongoing relationship which had developed while the victim was incarcerated,” the sheriff’s office said, adding that a photo of Gomez was also located in the teen’s cell.
Gomez, 27, had been assigned to the 16-year-old boy’s pod at the Pinellas Regional Juvenile Detention Center for about three weeks when the letters were discovered. (Google Earth)
Gomez was interviewed by detectives and admitted to writing the letters, according to the sheriff’s office. She and the boy quickly developed a relationship when they met once the sergeant was assigned to his pod about three weeks prior, FOX reported.
Despite being instructed never to be alone with an inmate, Gomez was discovered solo with the teen “several times,” according to officials.
Gomez also told detectives that she fantasized about having a sexual relationship with the juvenile inmate and planned to build a life with him once he was released from the detention center, PCSO said.
No further details were immediately disclosed as the sheriff’s office said the investigation remains ongoing.
