A Los Angeles County probation officer was arrested last week and accused of having sexual relations with a minor who was being held in a juvenile facility, the department said Monday.
The officer, who was not identified in the department's statement, was arrested March 7 and charged with having sexual relations with an inmate, arranging to meet a minor for lewd purposes and carrying contraband into the jail.
A police source, who requested anonymity because she was not authorized to speak to the media, identified the officer as Rafaela Martínez, 51 years old. Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department records show a person by that name was arrested for a felony on March 7. Martinez was assigned to detention services, according to a copy of the department's roster.
The probation department declined to comment beyond its public statement.
Investigators became aware of the situation after they recovered a cellphone from a young man detained at the Dorothy Kirby Center in Commerce on March 7, according to the probation department's statement. The device contained intimate texts and photographs between the young man and the officer, the department said.
“Information supported by a court order led investigators to communications between the detained youth and his probation officer,” the statement said. “Some of these communications appeared to have occurred while the employee was at work and there were photographs of a sexual nature.”
The woman was arrested a short time later, according to the probation department, and was also accused of bringing a cell phone and a bottle of prescription medication into a jail.
No case has yet been filed with the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.
News of the arrest drew swift condemnation from county leaders.
“The actions reported are egregious and problematic at all levels. “Arrest and a swift investigation are the only appropriate responses,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath. “We must root out all bad actors from a Probation Department long plagued by a culture of corruption.”
Supervisor Kathryn Barger added that there should be “zero tolerance” for such behavior and that the “young people of the county deserve better.”
The alleged incident marks the latest in a years-long series of scandals for the probation department, which has been plagued by a staffing crisis and a state oversight board shuttered several of its facilities in recent years. The Los Padrinos youth center in Downey could close by the end of this year.
The arrest is one of at least two allegations of sexual misconduct against a probation officer that are currently being investigated by county officials.
Earlier this year, a young man detained at Los Padrinos claimed that a female officer he met while in custody tried to start a romantic relationship with him after he was released in late 2023, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the situation. The sources requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
The probation department declined to comment, citing a “strict confidentiality policy regarding personnel matters, including cases of misconduct.”
When asked about the case, Pamela Johnson, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office, said last month: “We are aware of a similar allegation that is under investigation but has not been presented to this office for consideration.”
Sources said the alleged incident involving the Padrinos officer was also reported to the California Department of Justice, which reached an agreement with the probation department in 2021 to demand reforms to the troubled agency.
Times staff writer Rebecca Ellis contributed to this report.
