Woman who once claimed to be a Miami-Dade cop has been accused of molestation in Florida

Five years ago, Diana Elizabeth Guevara shared a story with the media: She claimed to be a former Miami-Dade police officer who underwent several gender affirmation surgeries at a new LGBTQ clinic at the University of Miami.

But Guevara has now made headlines for something else. She was arrested earlier this month in Citrus County on allegations she molested teen boys. And on Saturday, Miami-Dade police said, she’d never actually been a police officer with the county.

Guevara, 33, has been charged with transmitting harmful materials to minors, unlawful sexual activity with minors and lewd and lascivious battery, according to a recent press release from the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office.

“Guevara manipulated the young victims in this case and then took advantage of them,” Sheriff Mike Prendergast said in a statement. “She was able to foster a relationship with one victim, and identify her next victims through them, showing a pattern of predatory behavior. This conduct will not be tolerated in Citrus County.”

It was unclear Saturday if Guevara, remained jailed in Citrus County. A call to her cell phone went to voice mail. Her defense attorney did immediately return a request for comment.

According to police, the parent of an underage victim called police in June after it was learned Guevara had been sending explicit photos and videos to them on social media. Detective Tony Ricci interviewed two victims who said they’d had “sexual activity” with Guevara” at her home and received explicit images from her, police said.

"I knew I ticked differently, but I didn't know how," she said. "Then I figured it out. 'Oh! I'm trans.' "

Police say she gave varying ages to her victims.

According to a search warrant filed in circuit court, one of the male victims identified Guevara as a “transgender female” who sent him explicit Snapchat videos and claimed to be 23 years old before their unlawful sexual activity. Text messages corroborated the encounter, the warrant said.

Guevara, of Inverness, claimed to be 17 years old, and often had boys over to her apartment to play video games, the warrant said.

Another victim, who was 14, said Guevara met him near her home when his car got stuck in the mud. He and friends started hanging out at her home. She began badgering him “to be in a relationship,” the warrant said, and the two eventually had sexual encounters. Guevara later told the boy “to not tell anyone about the sex acts if he was questioned by law enforcement.”

Guevara was featured in the Miami Herald back in 2017 for a story on the the University of Miami’s new LGBTQ clinic. The story chronicled Guevara’s life story, and her visits with a UM surgeon who spearheaded her gender reassignment procedures. She identified herself as a former male county cop who left the force after being injured on the job.

“I knew I ticked differently, but I didn’t know how,” Guevara told the newspaper. “Then I figured it out. ‘Oh! I’m trans.’ “

At the time, UM had made her available to the Herald, and described her as a former county police officer — something she talked about at length. Guevara was also profiled on a newscast on Miami Spanish-language network América TeVé, in which she tearfully talked about battling depression after leaving the force because of an on-duty car accident, getting arrested for drug use and later finding love and getting engaged.

The account went undisputed at the time. But Miami-Dade police on Saturday said department records showed Guevara had never been a police officer with the county.

“Based on the information provided in various articles, a records check of this individual’s current and former names was conducted and they are not listed as being previously employed by the Miami-Dade Police Department,” a Miami-Dade spokesman said.