Text messages appeared to show a former Lake County Community Corrections officer was in a sexual relationship with a work release inmate. She told him she was pregnant, according to an affidavit.
Andrea Rebeles, 24, of Whiting, was charged earlier this month with sexual misconduct by a service provider, a Level 5 felony, and official misconduct, a Level 6 felony.
She posted a $3,000 cash bond Wednesday. Her next court hearing is March 6.
Lake County Community Corrections Interim Director of Operations Brian Johns contacted Indiana State Police in September after the inmate “admitted” he had sex with her in two separate interviews, according to a criminal affidavit.
Rebeles resigned Sept. 8. She started at Kimbrough on May 28.
Indiana State Police Det. Christopher Campione wrote in charging documents that Lake County Community Corrections’ Kimbrough Work Release Center staff found the inmate’s iPhone on Sept. 13 on top of lockers.
Messages appeared to indicate he was out of the county, including in Illinois and “involved in relationships with former…staff members,” the affidavit alleges.
They found “conversations” between him and Rebeles, as well as with another now-former correctional officer. It is not clear from the affidavit if the inmate had a relationship with the second woman.
The Post-Tribune is not identifying her because she has not been charged with a crime. She worked there from May 14 till Aug. 18.
Kimbrough makes inmates sign a waiver allowing police to inspect their phones without a warrant, court documents state.
Rebeles sent a picture of an ultrasound on Sept. 18 and a selfie of the pair in front of a mirror.
In a string of texts in late September, Rebeles and the inmate spoke about their sexual relationship.
“Well, look where it got us, look,” she wrote in one exchange.
“Pregnant,” he responds. “You pregnant.”
Later on, he tells her if they have a daughter, “she gonna be so pretty. That’s (sic) be crazy, ain’t it.”
“Why you not happy you got a baby,” he texted. “You got a dog, like your own crib (home), your own (stuff) going on, chilling. You comfortable with life? You…mentally straight (OK), financially straight. Physically straight. You are happy. I’m not like, I’m the total opposite of all this.”
The next day, they talk about police having his phone.
At the end of one exchange, both said, “I love you.”
The affidavit also noted nearly 90 calls from Aug. 28 to Sept. 6. The inmate said he didn’t know if he was ready to be a parent.
“My gut told me you were gonna do this (and I’m) okay with that,” she responded, later adding, “(A)ll I ask is that you please don’t tell anyone. I’m not mad at you, either, I genuinely understand.”
By January, the inmate had been transferred to a state prison in Michigan City, where he told investigators that he had sex with Rebeles after she quit and was “possibly” the father, an account investigators rejected.
mcolias@post-trib.com
