Suspect Arrested for Sexual Assault of a Minor 

May 23, 2026 – Riverside County Sheriff’s Office officials report that on January 28, 2026, the Riverside Sheriff’s Moreno Valley Station’s Investigation Bureau began investigating allegations of inappropriate contact with a student at a school in Moreno Valley. The Riverside Sheriff’s Special Victims Unit was notified of the allegations and assumed the investigation.

During the course of the investigation, investigators learned that during the timeframe of 2017 to 2018, the suspect, identified as Samantha J. Watson, a 41-year-old resident of Eastvale, was having inappropriate contact with a student while she was employed as a teacher by a Charter School located in the 23000 block of Sunnymead Boulevard, Moreno Valley.

On May 22, 2026, investigators served a search warrant in the 14000 block of Silent Stream Court, Eastvale. Watson was taken into custody without incident. Watson was booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center for sending harmful material to a juvenile, oral copulation, and digital penetration.

This is an ongoing investigation, and no additional details are available at this time.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Special Victims Unit believes there may be additional victims and encourages anyone with further information regarding this investigation to contact Master Investigator D. Schell at (951) 955-1704 or Sheriff’s Dispatch at 951-776-1099.

Source & photos: Riverside County Sheriff’s Office