Otay Mesa Detention Facility Case Manager Accused of Having Sex with Detainee

NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – August 10, 2023

SAN DIEGO – Shantal Hernandez is charged in a complaint unsealed today with having sexual relations with a detainee at the Otay Mesa Detention Facility while she was a case manager at the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman (OIDO), which provides oversight of immigration detention facilities.

OIDO is an independent office within the Department of Homeland Security. OIDO was established by Congress to assist individuals with complaints about the potential violation of immigration detention standards or other misconduct by Department of Homeland Security or contract personnel and provides oversight of immigration detention facilities. It is not a part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement or U.S. Customs and Border Protection. As part of her duties, Hernandez managed the complaints of ICE detainees in various detention facilities in the San Diego area.

According to the complaint, agents with the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Office of Professional Responsibility (ICE OPR), received information that Hernandez had been spending an unusual amount of time with a detainee - identified in court documents by the initials I.K.N. - at the Otay Mesa facility.

The complaint alleges that agents from ICE OPR obtained phone records from OMDC and determined that I.K.N. and Hernandez engaged in a significant number of sexually explicit phone calls and electronic communications. These calls discussed an ongoing relationship and sex acts between Hernandez and I.K.N. For example, in one call, Hernandez told I.K.N. that she had a video of one of their sex acts. Agents executed a search warrant that yielded a copy of one such video.

“The alleged conduct cannot and will not be tolerated,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Andrew Haden. “Those in a position of authority over immigration detainees must be held to the highest standard.”

“Hernandez’ main purpose as a DHS OIDO case manager was to promote safe and humane conditions within immigration detention,” said Jeffrey Gilgallon, special agent in charge for the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR). “However, she allegedly abandoned that oversight role, instead using her position to engage in prohibited sexual activity with an ICE detainee in one of our detention facilities. OPR is fully committed to enforcing ICE’s zero tolerance policy against sexual abuse in our detention facilities and aggressively pursuing those DHS employees who violate the law, no matter their role or title.”

Hernandez made her initial appearance in federal court this afternoon. She is scheduled to appear in court on August 15, 2023, at 10 a.m. for a detention hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jill L. Burkhardt.

DEFENDANTS                                             Case Number 23mj2882                                               

Shantal Hernandez                                          Age: 36                                   San Diego, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Sexual Abuse of a Ward – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 2243(b)

Maximum penalty: Fifteen years in prison and $250,000 fine

AGENCY

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Office of Professional Responsibility

*The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.