A former school resource officer in Marion County was arrested after he was accused of having inappropriate sexual contact with a 15-year-old girl.
On Monday, Marion County Sheriff’s Office detectives arrested 34-year-old Christian Linan for four counts of lewd and lascivious battery on a juvenile victim.
Linan resigned from his position at the Marion County Sheriff’s Office following his arrest. He had worked for MCSO as a deputy since September of 2016, and he had served as a school resource officer at Dunnellon High School since August of 2022.
According to MCSO, detectives were made aware of allegations last week that Linan had a sexual relationship with a former student who is now an adult. The sheriff’s office stated that the victim had recently confided in a counselor about her relationship with Linan.
An investigation was launched, and detectives learned that Linan began having inappropriate sexual contact with the victim in 2019 when she was 15 years old. The victim told investigators that she and Linan had sex on multiple occasions when she was a minor, and the encounters occurred in his home and vehicle.
On Monday, two MCSO sergeants made contact with Linan at the MCSO Main Operations building. After being read his Miranda rights, Linan admitted that he knew who the victim was, and he claimed that she was “16 or 17 when they met,” according to the arrest report.
Linan admitted to having sexual contact with the victim at his residence on two separate occasions. He stated that he did not “force himself on the victim,” and he claimed that the sexual encounters were consensual.
During the post-Miranda interview, Linan stated that the sexual relationship ended in June of 2019, which was when the victim was 15 years old.
Linan was placed under arrest and transported to Marion County Jail, where he is currently being held without bond.
“Every day, I have a thousand employees working hard and doing what’s right,” stated Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods. “So, it hurts each one of us when someone does something like this and casts a shadow over the good that the rest of these deputies are doing.”
Sheriff Woods continued by stating, “All of my deputies know the standards I set for the Office of Sheriff. In fact, they take an oath to uphold those standards and they know that I have zero tolerance for this kind of action. I am glad that the victim had the courage to come forward and let us know.”