TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

A Kern County Sheriff's sergeant is being investigated on allegations he may have compromised a possible elder financial abuse case after becoming involved in a relationship with the suspect's daughter, according to documents filed in Kern County Superior Court.

Sgt. Vince Martinez is on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation into possible obstruction of justice and falsification of reports, Sheriff Donny Youngblood has said.

Martinez confirmed Thursday that he has been in a relationship with the suspect's daughter, but he denied conspiring to cover up a crime. He said he's been ordered by Internal Affairs not to discuss specifics of the case.

"I'm completely innocent," Martinez said.

He said he trusts the sheriff's department investigation will clear him, and he looks forward to returning to work.

"It's important to conduct an investigation no matter how wild the allegations," Martinez said.

Martinez worked on an investigation from October 2009 to March 2010 regarding the alleged embezzlement of property and $30,000 from Bakersfield resident Gloria Moody by her daughter, Donna Martinez, according to a probable cause statement filed with search warrants by the sheriff's department at Superior Court. When Martinez served a search warrant at the residence of Donna Martinez, he apparently fell for the suspect's daughter, Samantha Martinez.

Vince Martinez is not related to the women, the statement says.

A senior deputy who was present when the search warrant was served on Oct. 8, 2009 wrote that several officers described the sergeant's interaction with Samantha Martinez as "flirty."

"It was evident that (Martinez) appeared infatuated with Donna Martinez's 23-year-old daughter Samantha Martinez," the senior deputy wrote in the probable cause statement.

That infatuation apparently evolved into a dating relationship, and the sergeant posted pictures of Samantha on his Facebook page, took her to a sheriff's department promotion ceremony and even attended a civil hearing between Moody and her daughter, the statement says. During the hearing, he sat with the Martinez family and was seen with his hand on Samantha Martinez's leg.

Vince Martinez never told his supervisors at the sheriff's department about the relationship, the statement says.

It's also alleged he tried to dissuade Moody from pursuing her case against her daughter, according to the statement.

Moody said at her home Thursday that the sergeant pressured her into saying there was something mentally wrong with her after his relationship with her granddaughter began. She said he quit taking her case seriously at that point.

"After that, his demeanor just changed," Moody said.

Moody had moved in with her daughter after becoming ill, and had given her access to her bank account to pay Moody's bills. But instead, her daughter embezzled the money and tried to take Moody's house and car too, Moody said Thursday, and alleges in the probable cause statement.

Moody said she hired an attorney and got the house and car back, but she isn't sure she'll ever see the allegedly embezzled money again. She said she would also like to get jewelry and the rifles of her husband, who died a few years ago, returned.

No one answered the door at the Martinez home Thursday afternoon.

The senior deputy who was assigned to reopen the embezzlement investigation in January of this year wrote in the probable cause statement that it was clear that the supplemental report filed by Vince Martinez "did not accurately reflect the facts or the content of the case." The allegations of financial elder abuse were not fully investigated, and Martinez tried to shift the focus from a criminal to a civil matter, the statement says.

Search warrants were served last month at the homes of Vince Martinez and Donna Martinez. Among the items seized were cell phones and computers.

Youngblood has said the department is conducting forensic analysis on computer hard drives and phones, and investigators will likely know within 30 days whether there is enough substance to file charges against Martinez.