Video shows guard going into closet with teen

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - A female corrections guard was caught on surveillance video going into a cleaning closet with a teenage boy and what they did in there could eventually cost her, her job, but not before she made some easy money off you.

It’s only a few minutes of video but it's led to a female corrections officer being charged with rape.

The Juvenile Correction Officer Lara Sterosky and the inmate, a 17-year-old she's guarding were caught on camera going into a cleaning closet together.

“I am not happy about it, I become disappointed and saddened when I see some of these things occur,” Deputy County Manager of Public Safety, Tom Swisstack, said.

He is talking about what allegedly comes next in the video. Sterosky and the teen both move into the closet. After a few minutes you see Sterosky 's foot pop out, cops say it’s clear she's on her knees and after a few more minutes she and the teen leave,both carrying cleaning supplies.

This all went unnoticed and may have stayed that way, except the teen reported Sterosky about a week later after he says she started treating him badly. He told cops after he complimented Sterosky she asked what he wanted and he said oral sex.

“The employee was placed on administrative leave,” said Swisstack.

While on leave deputies charged Sterosky with rape. The $15 an hour employee was still getting paid because the county says the criminal charges weren't enough to fire her without an HR investigation and hearings.

“There is a lot of times that people may be charged with something but there is not enough evidence to substantiate that,” said Swisstack.

She was on paid suspension for almost two months said Swisstack, “She came back before that whole process was actually finished and decided she wanted to resign.”

So what about women guarding boys and men guarding girls at the juvenile jail?  Swisstack says same-sex assignments wouldn't stop potential sex abuse and, “We try to set up a real environment with how the real world is, you have to work with both.”

But,Swisstack made it clear that guards, “have to be beyond reproach.”

Sterosky 's case has been dismissed for the time being while the DA's office gathers evidence to take it before a grand jury for indictment.

Swisstack, who's ultimately in charge of all the county's jails, says this is the first time he can think of sexual allegations being made against a guard at the juvenile facility.