Bakersfield.com: Kern County news, events, classifieds, shopping, & search

RSS Feed   Print Story   E-mail Story        

Inmate says jail worker offered him oral sex

By STEVE E. SWENSON and JASON KOTOWSKI, Californian staff writers
e-mail:sswenson@bakersfield.com
e-mail:jkotowski@bakersfield.com | Wednesday, Jul 23 2008 11:32 AM

Last Updated: Thursday, Jul 24 2008 7:25 AM

It has been a bad summer for “extra help” workers at the Kern County Sheriff’s Department.

First, one of the part-time, temporary workers allegedly stole 19 guns from the sheriff’s evidence lock up. And then on Friday another extra help worker, this time from the jail, has been accused of trying to force an inmate to submit to oral sex.

The 20-year-old male inmate reported that Fredrico Tafoya, 26, threatened to remove him from a work release program if he didn’t let the detention deputy perform oral sex on him, detectives said. The work release program allows some inmates to work under supervision during the day and return home at the end of each day.

Tafoya was arrested on suspicion of false imprisonment, causing a person to expose themselves and attempted oral copulation under color of authority, detectives said.

Tafoya was booked into the downtown jail, but has since been released after posting $22,500 bail, Cmdr. Dan Leper said at a news conference Wednesday. He was fired from the job he held for four months at the Sheriff’s Department, Leper said.

Tafoya is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 1. The maximum possible punishment is four years in prison, prosecutors said.

The incident happened Friday at the sheriff’s headquarters on Norris Road where the inmate reported to begin his work release duties in maintenance at the headquarters complex, Leper said.

Tafoya asked the inmate to go to a secluded building where the incident took place, the commander said. That’s the basis of the false imprisonment charge.

Tafoya was arrested Friday evening after he was interviewed, Leper said. He did not give specifics to what Tafoya said, but Leper said detectives did develop information during the interview which led to his arrest.

Leper said he could not say why the announcement of the arrest was delayed until Wednesday.

Deputies did an extensive background check of Tafoya before he was hired, but nothing in that check prevented him from being hired, Leper said.

The sheriff’s department doesn’t want such things to happen, but if they do, they try to investigate it as soon as possible, Leper said.

The arrest comes just a couple months after the property room theft.

Another employee, Edgard Leon Nava, allegedly took 19 guns from the sheriff’s department property room and then sold them. The discovery of the theft came in mid-May when a man was arrested in Los Angeles with a gun that was traced back to the Sheriff's Department.

Two other detention officer cases have made the news in the last several years.

In December 2006, three detention deputies were arrested on drug charges. Detention Deputy Josh Bankston was acquitted. Detention Sgt. Donal Lundgren and Detention Deputy Patrick Holloway both pleaded no contest to maintaining a place where drugs are sold and other charges against them were dropped.

The largest detention deputy case involves second-degree murder and assault charges against three jail guards stemming rom the Aug. 21, 2005, death of jail inmate James Moore. The guards — Daniel Thomas Lindini, Ralph Contreras and Roxanne Fowler — are scheduled for a trial on Aug. 11. They have pleaded not guilty.