SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) - Two Santa Barbara County jail workers were arrested Friday on suspicion of sexually assaulting inmates, authorities said.
Salvador Vargas, 34, of Santa Maria was arrested at his home on a warrant alleging forcible oral copulation and sexual activity with a person in custody, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office said.
Gabriel Castro, 47, of Ventura surrendered to detectives at the Ventura County Jail and was booked on a warrant for forcible sexual penetration by a foreign object and sexual activity with a person in custody.
Details of the allegations weren’t immediately disclosed.
The arrests came a day after felony criminal charges were filed against the men. It wasn’t immediately known whether they had obtained attorneys.
Vargas was hired in 2018 as a social worker and was assigned to the Main Jail as a discharge planner, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Castro, a custody deputy at the Main Jail, was hired in 2002.
Both men have been on administrative leave since an inmate’s tip sparked an investigation in 2018. That probe developed into two separate criminal investigations.
“The investigations were for criminal activities that occurred around the same time with intertwined witnesses,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
The statement called the alleged assaults “intolerable.”
“The Sheriff’s Office is dedicated to thoroughly investigating allegations of misconduct by employees and does not tolerate the victimization of inmates who are entrusted in our care,” the statement said.
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