The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a woman working security at a county juvenile justice facility, where she is accused of having sexual relations with a minor housed there.
Rachelle Edwards, 32, was arrested Tuesday and charged with four counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor, and two counts of lewd, or lascivious touching.
She worked the night shift at Kissimmee Youth Academy, a medium security-level program part of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. It’s located just down the block and across Simpson Road from the Osceola County Jail, where she was sent Tuesday.
Osceola Sheriff Marcos Lopez said Edwards, contracted to work at the facility through a third party, initiated the relationship with a 17-year-old male who was serving a juvenile sentence at Kissimmee Youth Academy; the facility serves males ages 14-21 with mental health and developmental disability services.
Lopez said the juvenile got a letter from the suspect in February, about three weeks into his detention, asking his age, starting a chain of letters back and forth between the two. He was later moved to a different cell without a camera — Lopez had no information yet why — where the sexual conduct reportedly took place.
He said the juvenile called his mother and told her what had happened, and the mother contacted the facility. That action initiated the Sheriff’s investigation.
“It doesn’t cease to amaze me the kind of shocking things happening in our society,” Lopez said. “When this happens at a juvenile detention facility, the public trust is damaged. This doesn’t only scar this child for life, but it also scars law enforcement. We’re bludgeoned enough with what’s already going on.”
Both the juvenile and suspect were both uncooperative with investigators at first, Lopez said, noting Edwards, who was hired through a third-party security agency, gave a full confession.
“This is typical, detainees can feel alone, but the victim came forward and talked about what happened,” he said.
Edwards has no prior criminal background in Osceola County, and the Sheriff said this is her first criminal activity.
