Hillsborough County deputy jailed on sex charges in Pasco

He spent some of his free time with the Zephyrhills High School marching band.

She played in it.

The two became intimate, authorities said. But there was a big problem.

He was 49. She was 15.

On Tuesday, authorities arrested Juan Ortega, a Hillsborough County sheriff's detention deputy, accusing him of having a sexual relationship with the girl that lasted several months.

It is unclear how the two met, but the deputy was a volunteer for the high school's band program, said Summer Romagnoli, Pasco County schools spokeswoman.

Deputies say Ortega, who now is 50, picked the girl up during her school lunch break and the two twice had sex at his Zephyrhills home last year.

The girl told investigators of another encounter with Ortega in a portable classroom when she was attending band camp about a week before the 2011 school year began, according to an arrest report.

Then in September, Ortega sent the girl an email that contained a picture of him nude, investigators said.

Ortega has been charged with three counts of lewd and lascivious battery by a person older than 18 on a victim age 12 to 16, two counts of lewd or lascivious battery and one count of transmission of material harmful to minors.

He was being held in the Land O' Lakes Jail with bail set at $55,000.

Ortega was hired as a detention deputy in October 2007, sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said.

He has been suspended without pay pending the investigation's outcome.

Romagnoli said the Pasco school district has "rigorous checks" and it is district policy for volunteers not to have contact with students unless a school staff member is present.

In light of this incident, school officials are cooperating with investigators and looking into improving the process of selecting volunteers, Romagnoli said.

"Being a law enforcement officer, he passed all the background checks," she said.

The school district has about 16,000 parent volunteers.