A former juvenile detention center sergeant has been arrested following an investigation into her relationship with an underage detainee.
According to reports, 27-year-old Sgt. Katelyn Gomez, who worked at Pinellas Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Clearwater, solicited sex from a 16-year-old boy incarcerated there. According to a Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office news release, deputies revealed detectives were able to determine the “inappropriate letters” found in the bed of the underage detainee were written by Gomez.
Gomez reportedly wrote in detail her plans to engage in sexual activity with the teenager upon their first meeting on one of the letters. The pair had developed a relationship after Gomez met him in the detention center weeks before the discovery of the letters. Detectives even discovered Gomez had sent the teenager a picture of herself to his cell phone. She reportedly told authorities she “fantasized about having a sexual relationship with the victim and planned to build a life with him once he was released.”
Gomez is currently in custody and her bail has not been set.