(File photo: Eric Leonard)
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department says a sworn employee is under investigation for alleged misconduct involving a teenage member of the Department's explorer program.
"Sheriff Jim McDonnell and the Department find the allegation alarming and disturbing and have launched a full and immediate investigation into the matter," the Department said in a statement late Monday.
The information, which was withheld from the Department's typical news release channels, said the employee was not directly involved with the explorer program, and said the alleged misconduct was discovered during a department-wide review of that program.
Last week an LAPD officer was charged with six felony child sex counts for allegedly having illegal contact with a teenage girl in the LAPD's cadet program.
(Sheriff's statement below)