Florida sergeant arrested after allegedly writing nearly a dozen inappropriate letters to teen inmate

Pinellas County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Katelyn Gomez, 27, was arrested Wednesday after authorities discovered inappropriate letters allegedly written by her in the bed of a 16-year-old inmate.

A police sergeant who was employed at a juvenile detention center in Florida finds herself on the wrong side of the law after allegedly composing nearly a dozen inappropriate letters to a 16-year-old detainee.

The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office disclosed on Wednesday that Sgt. Katelyn Gomez, aged 27, faces charges of solicitation of a child to engage in an act that constitutes sexual battery by a person in familial or custodial authority.

Gomez, who joined the sheriff's office on January 5, held the position of sergeant at the Pinellas Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Clearwater.

Her purported involvement with the teenage detainee came to light when detectives responded to a report from the detention facility concerning approximately ten inappropriate letters discovered in the inmate's possession.

During the investigation into the letters, detectives traced them back to Gomez. "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 stated, further noting the discovery of a photo of Gomez in the boy's cell.

During questioning by detectives, Gomez purportedly confessed to crafting the letters and revealed that she and the boy had initiated a relationship several weeks prior.

The sheriff's office revealed that Gomez had been assigned to the boy's pod for the past three weeks. Despite being instructed not to be alone with an inmate, facility staff informed authorities that she had been in solitary contact with the boy "several times.

Gomez also told detectives that "she fantasized about having a sexual relationship with the victim and planned to build a life with him once he was released," according to the PCSO. She was booked into the Pinellas County Jail.