TX - Sheriff's jailer (Rolan Ray Mata) arrested on online solicitation of a minor charges

Rolan Ray Mata

Original Article

02/07/2014

McALLEN - A man set to begin work as a county detention officer lost his job and faces felony charges after police said Friday that he used social media to solicit underage girls for sex.

On Friday, Rolan Ray Mata went before a McAllen municipal judge who formally charged him with one count of online solicitation of a minor and set his bond at $75,000 before sending him to the Hidalgo County Jail.

Detectives arrested Mata, 24, Thursday afternoon as part of an ongoing investigation into online child predators, said Lt. Joel Morales, a department spokesman.

Using social media websites, undercover officers posed as a 14-year-old girl who interacted with Mata and was solicited to have sex with him, Morales said.

Mata told McAllen police investigators that he worked at the Hidalgo County jail as a detention officer, but Sheriff Lupe Treviño said that he was not yet an employee.

Mata had been offered a job as a detention officer and was scheduled to begin working on Monday. But upon being notified of his arrest, Treviño rescinded the offer.