A former behavioral health clinician from San Francisco faces several felony charges for allegedly grooming a teenage client at a juvenile detention center in Contra Costa County for two years then sexually abusing him upon his release.
Sofia Drotts, 26, of San Francisco, was working as a temporary behavioral health clinician for Contra Costa County when she was assigned to counsel the boy at John A. Davis Juvenile Detention Center while he was 14 or 15 years old. As ABC 7 reports, the family alleges Drotts spent two years grooming the boy and then abused him outside the facility after his release.
According to the Concord Police Department, the investigation began after the county's probation department alerted authorities to concerns about an inappropriate relationship between Drotts and the juvenile. Prosecutors allege the sexual abuse took place between April 1 and July 14 of this year, after the victim was released at age 17.
“The reason he was there was having emotional and mental problems,” said attorney John Burris, who’s representing the victim's family in a civil claim against the county, “and her job was to help solve those problems, to rehabilitate him, to teach him and understand that, and she did just the opposite.”
KPIX reports that before her arrest, Drotts allegedly encouraged the victim to skip school and violate his curfew, with the teen eventually staying at her San Francisco home. According to the California Post, the boy's family said she allegedly created a fake teenage girlfriend persona and used a burner phone to hide her ongoing contact with the boy from his mother.
"This woman used my child's most vulnerable moments to groom and make him believe she was his girlfriend," the boy’s mother said, speaking to ABC 7.
After completing its investigation, Concord police arrested Drotts on July 14 and forwarded the case to the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office, which filed charges including two counts of unlawful sexual intercourse, two counts of oral copulation with a person under 18, one count of sexual penetration by a foreign object, two counts of sending harmful matter to a minor, and one count of possessing child or youth pornography.
The family's claim, which must be filed before a lawsuit can proceed against the county, also alleges that county and state employees failed to recognize or report repeated warning signs that Drotts was grooming the teenager.
“Something told me something was off,” said the teen’s mother, “but I dismissed it because I couldn't believe that a professional in her capacity could do what she did.”
Per ABC 7, Andrea Harner, a board member with the nonprofit Darkness 2 Light, said institutions that work with children need training that goes beyond basic mandated reporter requirements by teaching staff how to recognize grooming behaviors and reduce opportunities for abuse before it escalates.
Investigators said they have not identified any additional victims. Drotts is expected to be arraigned in Contra Costa Superior Court, where she will enter a plea before the case proceeds to a preliminary hearing if it moves forward.
As SFist reported previously, Burris was one of the attorneys in the landmark case that placed the Oakland Police Department under federal oversight for two decades. The department completed all 51 court-ordered reforms earlier this year.
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Image: Contra Costa Police Department/Facebook
