Correctional Officer Accused Of Hosting Teen Parties, Sexually Assaulting Girls

AMADOR COUNTY (CBS13) - A state prison correctional officer was arrested Tuesday after an investigation revealed he was serving alcohol to minors at his house and sexually assaulting underage girls while they were passed out, according to the Amador County Sheriff's Office.

The investigation began on June 2 when the sheriff's office when the parents of a 14-year-old girl reported that she may have been molested by Johnny Irvin Walters, 38, a correctional officer at Mule Creek State Prison in Ione.

The investigation revealed Walters had been hosting pool parties for underage minors and facilitating an environment in which the minors could consume alcohol and participate in sexual activity, the sheriff's office said.

Detectives interviewed teen girls who reported very similar accounts of incidents where Walters provided them alcohol to the point where they passed out, only to wake up in bed with Walters sexually assaulting them.

"This all stems from him having a graduation party for his daughter and all these girls come over and there was alcohol," his mother, Barbara, told CBS13 on Wednesday. "They snuck alcohol from what I understand and got drunk. My son was wrong for having the alcohol there, but he did not furnish alcohol. He would never, ever mistreat a child."

But investigators say the evidence paints a different story. In the process of serving a search warrant at Walters' home, evidence reportedly was discovered that supports Walters had secretly viewed and digitally recorded at least one underage girl as she showered at his residence. Several sources also told the sheriff's office of photos posted on social network sites showing teens drinking at Walters' home.

The Amador County District Attorney's Office filed a complaint against Walters alleging: using a minor for sex acts, possession of matter depicting a minor engaging in sexual conduct, unauthorized invasion of privacy, lewd acts upon a child, child molesting and furnishing alcohol to juveniles.

"It's not true, it's not true, it's not true," his mother insisted Wednesday.

But CBS13 talked to Walters' former roommate who says she has seen Walters with topless teenage girls and claims Walters told her once he simply helped a teenage girl who was drunk get into the shower to help sober her up.

Walters was arrested at the Amador County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday and booked into the Amador County Jail on $40,000. He remained in custody Wednesday and his bail was increased to $80,000.

Officials at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation at Mule Creek assisted the Amador County Sheriff's Office during this investigation. Walters has been with CDCR since March 2003 and was assigned to Mule Creek that June.

The sheriff's office said the investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information on the case is asked to call the Amador County Sheriff's Office at (209) 223-6500.