Leticia Castillo
Introduction
Leticia Castillo, a 55-year-old Republican member of the California State Assembly representing the 58th District, was revealed in October 2026 to have operated adult entertainment websites under the names “Silky Santana” and “Silky Smooth” during the 2000s — a past that collides with the “Faith, Family, Freedom” brand she campaigns on. The account, reported by The California Post weeks before a nail-biter reelection contest against Democrat Clarissa Cervantes, featured graphic sexual language and photos of Castillo herself. Castillo acknowledged pursuing an adult entertainment business, describing it as a dark chapter she left behind through her Christian faith, but declined to say how long she ran the websites.
Background Information
Castillo, a Republican from Corona, represents District 58 in the California Assembly, covering parts of Riverside and San Bernardino counties, and serves on the Assembly’s Budget, Communications and Conveyance, Education, and Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials committees. Before office, per her LinkedIn as reported by The California Post, she worked in a variety of fields including a stint at Verizon, and became a licensed therapist in California in 2016. She first sought an Assembly seat in 2022 but finished third in the primary; she returned in 2024 to win the seat, defeating Clarissa Cervantes by just 596 votes. In the Assembly she has championed legislation restricting transgender rights and allowing parents to pull their children out of lessons about gender identity, and the California Family Council graded her at 85% on its “Biblical Values Score.”
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Conduct admitted. The account below rests on reporting by The California Post and on Castillo’s own on-the-record acknowledgment of the adult entertainment business. No legal action or ethics investigation has been reported against her, and this is a political scandal, not a criminal matter. Her campaign-era platform and the dates she ran the websites are as stated in the cited coverage.
The California Post reported that Castillo, as a lawmaker who has crusaded to protect children and defend traditional family values, operated XXX websites with graphic sexual language and photos of herself, going by “Silky Santana” and “Silky Smooth” for years in the 2000s while advertising sexual entertainment services. The report noted the websites were started and operated over a period of years that overlaps with the time her LinkedIn says she worked at Verizon. Castillo did not answer questions about how long she ran the websites.
Castillo acknowledged the episode in a statement to The California Post. “I’m never going to claim to be a victim of anything,” she said. “I was an adult and, unfortunately, thought I wanted to start an adult entertainment business with a friend’s encouragement.” She said she was grieving her father’s death from pancreatic cancer and “angry at God” at the time, and that she turned to Jesus and realized “I’m better than that.” “Who I was then is not who I am today, and it hasn’t been for a very long time,” she said.
The report landed in a race where both candidates carry pasts their campaigns are defending. Cervantes, a Riverside City Council member, was arrested for drunken driving in 2014 in Moreno Valley with a blood alcohol level of at least 0.15% — nearly twice the legal limit — had that conviction dismissed in May 2023, then was arrested for drunken driving again about six weeks later; she pleaded guilty to the second DUI in August 2023 and was sentenced to three years probation and a sheriff’s work release program. Her campaign said she “has taken full accountability, completed recovery programs, and she’s been transparent about her years of sobriety,” and the campaign also produced a retraction from her daughter’s father, Moses Bolanos, of his 2013 drug-use allegations against her. Cervantes’ campaign did not directly address questions about Castillo’s adult entertainment business.
Public Reaction and Consequences
Castillo moved to address the revelation head-on rather than deny it. “I do not advertise this part of my life. I also do not run from it,” she said, adding, “The people I represent deserve to hear it from me rather than from someone else. If any one of them wants to ask me about it, I will answer.” She also turned on her opponent, saying her constituents “are sick of politicians, like my opponent, who will say and do anything to get elected, who lie, cheat, raise our taxes, and protect criminals instead of working to make our district safer and more affordable.” The revelation arrived just two months after a separate scandal engulfed the California GOP, when Assembly Minority Leader Heath Flora was ousted from his leadership post a day after The Post revealed he faced two state ethics investigations, had spent more than $11,000 in campaign funds at a Sacramento dive bar, and had multiple extramarital affairs.
Current Status
Castillo remains in office and is running for reelection in the November 2026 contest, with voters set to decide her fate in a race both sides expect to be a nail-biter in the fiercely divided Inland Empire — a rematch of the 2024 election she won by 596 votes. No ethics inquiry, recall effort, or party disciplinary action has been reported in the coverage cited, and the open question of how long she operated the websites went unanswered by her campaign. The episode leaves voters weeks away from weighing her past against a challenger with her own record.
Impact on Their Career/Life
Castillo built her political identity on defending families and children — a “Faith, Family, Freedom” banner, transgender-restricting bills, and an 85% “Biblical Values Score” — and the revelation that she once ran adult entertainment websites strikes directly at that brand in the final weeks of a reelection campaign she won last time by a margin of 596 votes out of tens of thousands cast. She has publicly declined to run from the episode, framing it as a pre-faith chapter of a life that later included a therapy license in 2016 and a seat on the Assembly’s Education and Budget committees, but her unanswered questions about the timeline leave the story open through Election Day.