Supervisor of O.C. Inmate Workers Is Arrested

An Orange County animal-shelter supervisor has been arrested, accused of having sex with female inmates who were working at the shelter to shave time off their jail sentences, prosecutors said Thursday.

Frank Bojorquez Jr., 53, of Orange was arrested Wednesday and is being held at the county jail in lieu of $250,000 bail, according to the district attorney’s office. Bojorquez faces three felony counts of having sex with an inmate and six misdemeanor counts of sexual battery. If convicted, he could face four years and four months in prison.

“We have these types of laws to protect people from being taken advantage of when they are in the most vulnerable time of their lives,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Susan Kang Schroeder, spokeswoman for the department.

Bojorquez supervised women in the community work program, which allows convicts to reduce their jail sentences by one day for each 10 hours worked. Though the women were not in jail, they were considered in custody and risked being put behind bars if they did not follow Bojorquez’s orders.

Bojorquez has worked for the county for 12 years, five of them at the Orange shelter.

Sheriff’s officials learned of the alleged crimes when one woman complained in December about Bojorquez. They tracked down three other alleged victims.