A Riverside County correctional deputy, a teacher and her husband have been charged with conspiracy and dissuading a witness after attempting to smear the people who told a sheriff’s investigator that the couple’s 15-year-old daughter was having sex with the deputy, Superior Court records show.
The parents, who live in Murrieta, allowed the relationship to happen and attempted to have the investigator removed from the case, according to a sworn declaration written to obtain an arrest warrant.
The deputy, David Martin Bocanegra, 20, was also charged with unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. Bocanegra, who had been assigned to the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning, is no longer employed by the department, said Sgt. Edward Soto, a sheriff’s spokesman.
The mother teaches school in Temecula. She has been placed on paid administrative leave, said Francisco Arce, the Temecula Unified Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources.
This news organization is not naming the parents to protect the identity of the minor.
The sheriff’s investigation began in November. The 15-year-old told another student at Vista Murrieta High that she was dating a man who was a “cop” named David, according to the declaration. The student told a teacher, who then told Riverside County Child Protective Services.
The investigator found the couple to be uncooperative.
“(The father) did not want to provide any identifying information about David or indicate that he was a cop,” the investigator wrote. “(They) would not let Jane Doe (the daughter) answer any questions without (the parents) talking first. When Jane Doe was finally allowed to answer Investigator Gasparini’s questions, she had to get permission first from (the father) via a head nod.”
About 45 minutes after the interview, Bocanegra used the father’s phone to call the investigator and tell him that he was not having a sexual relationship with the 15-year-old. But a female friend of the daughter told the investigator that she saw the 15-year-old and Bocanegra kiss in front of Jane Doe’s parents and have sex in Jane Doe’s bedroom.
A male friend of the daughter also told the investigator that the girl and Bocanegra were having sex. Afterward, that friend showed the investigator a text message from the mother that said the friend was a liar and threatened to get a restraining order against him.
The investigator then received an email that the father had sent to the school district board of trustees accusing the friends of inappropriate sexual behaviors.
“(The mother) also sent letters to Investigator Gasparini’s supervisor and Sheriff Bianco in an attempt to have Investigator Gasparini taken off the case,” the declaration said.
The investigator also found, through a search of social media accounts belonging to the 15-year-old and Bocanegra, pictures of them together as well as a text conversation in which the 15-year-old said her parents approved of their relationship.
The 15-year-old apparently made no attempt to keep it a secret, according to the investigator.
“Once Jane Doe began talking about dating an adult man at school, other students began telling teachers about what they were told,” the declaration said. “After (the parents) found out what Jane Doe had said, they began a damage control campaign by trying to intimidate and discredit witnesses and the investigators involved in this case.”
Bocanegra and the parents were arrested on Feb. 16; the mother was handcuffed in front of students, Arce said. A SWAT team was sent to arrest the father, a second declaration said, because he had made credible threats against law enforcement. All have posted bail.
All three are due to be arraigned on May 13 at Southwest Justice Center in French Valley.
None of the three could be reached for comment.
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