Southwest Key Worker Arrested On Suspicion Of Sex Crimes

Published: Monday, July 1, 2019 - 10:14pm
Updated: Monday, July 1, 2019 - 10:16pm
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Police have arrested a Southwest Key Programs worker on suspicion of sex crimes.

Court documents say Jose Antonio Rojas-Minjares is accused of sexual conduct with a minor and luring a child for sexual exploitation.

A probable cause statement accuses Rojas, 30, of sending sexually explicit text messages to someone he thought was a 14-year-old boy, but was actually an undercover police officer. At Southwest Key, Rojas reportedly organized social activities for migrant kids between ages 2 and 10.

Neil Nowlin, spokesperson for Southwest Key, emailed a statement.

“In compliance with federal and state regulations, all Arizona employees are required to pass a thorough background check before joining our organization,” the statement said. “We review criminal histories, driving records and sex offender registries. This employee passed all of these checks. Since learning of his arrest, we have reported it to licensing authorities and have suspended him without pay pending review for termination of employment. This employee was only with us for two weeks and these allegations do not relate to his work with us or anyone in our facility. However, we are working to immediately confirm no child was harmed by him in any way during the two weeks he was an employee.”

The federal government has paid Southwest Key more than $207 million so far this fiscal year.

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