SOCIAL WORKER ACCUSED OF DEFRAUDING WOMAN.

Byline: Donna Huffaker Daily News Staff Writer

A Los Angeles County social worker is accused of stealing thousands of dollars from a client he took to Santa Barbara after saying her life was in danger, Burbank police said.

Officers arrested Juan Antonio Gomez, 64, of Burbank on Monday on suspicion of grand theft, taking cash under false pretenses and writing a check with insufficient funds, said Lt. Larry Koch.

Gomez, who was being held Tuesday in Los Angeles County Jail on $25,000 bail, is scheduled to be arraigned today, Koch said.

A caseworker for the county's Adult Protective Services program, Gomez began working with the 38-year-old woman, Koch said.

Last month, Gomez falsely told his client that her ex-boyfriend, who is the father of her 3-year-old son, was arrested by federal agents for a ``serious federal offense,'' Koch said. Days later he told the woman her life was in danger and that she should go to Santa Barbara with him to be safe, he said.

The woman does not speak to her former boyfriend unless it is about the joint custody of their son, so she assumed what Gomez told her was true, Koch said.

``He's a county official. She trusted him and he lied to her,'' he said.

Pam Smith, program manager for the county's Community and Senior Services Department, said Gomez has been on administrative leave with pay since last week, when the agency was told of the criminal investigation.

Social workers for Adult Protective Services take and receive reports on senior citizens and dependent adults who are being abused or neglected and they investigate the allegations, Smith said.

She declined further comment about Gomez.

Koch said Gomez spent nine days with his client, convincing her to pay for lodging, food and other expenses, and promising the county would reimburse her. She agreed to have $3,000 sent to them, Koch said.

It does not appear Gomez had a sexual relationship with the client, Koch said. ``He's infatuated with her, so he concocted the story to be close to her,'' he said.

Meanwhile, the woman's ex-boyfriend called police because he was supposed to pick up his son but could not find the woman or the boy, Koch said.

When officers contacted the woman after she returned from Santa Barbara, she told them the story. Police explained to her she was not in danger and her ex-boyfriend had not been arrested for anything, Koch said.

It is unclear how much money the 38-year-old woman gave to Gomez, Koch said, estimating that it could be several thousand dollars. At one point Gomez borrowed $5,000 from her, then wrote her a check from his account and it bounced, Koch said.