KTLA

Female officer arrested for alleged tryst with minor inmate in California

A female probation officer has been arrested for an alleged sexual relationship she had with an incarcerated boy.

On Monday, the Los Angeles County Probation Department announced that the improper relationship came to light after a contraband phone was discovered at Dorothy Kirby Center in Commerce.


That phone revealed communications between the officer and a boy, including some that occurred while the officer was on duty. There were also “photos that are sexual in nature,” the Probation Department said in a news release.

From the employee, investigators seized a phone and “a prescription pill container with different types of pills in varying quantities,” officials added.

While Probation Department officials did not reveal the officer’s identity, the Los Angeles Times reported that she is 51-year-old Rafaela Martinez.

The Probation Department said she faces charges of arranging a meeting with a minor for lewd purpose, sex with an inmate, bringing contraband into a jail and unauthorized possession of a wireless communication device or any device capable of recording audio and/or video within any secured area of a Custody Services Division facility.

Jail records show she is being held at the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood. No bail or court information is listed.