Two Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office employees were arrested on multiple felony sexual assault charges Friday, including forcible oral copulation, sexual activity with a person in custody, and forcible sexual penetration by a foreign object.
The suspects, 34-year-old Salvador Vargas of Santa Maria and 47-year-old Gabriel Castro of Ventura, were held in Santa Barbara County Jail and Ventura County Jail on $100,000 bonds, respectively. Both were released on bail over the weekend — Vargas’s arraignment date is March 23 and Castro’s arraignment date is March 6.
The charges involve at least two female victims — one per defendant — and prosecutor Jennifer Karapetian was unable to state if there were other known victims. The two confirmed victims were inmates at the Santa Barbara County Main Jail when Vargas and Castro were employees there.