Woman allegedly posed as boy then abused girl
April 5, 2007
Adapted from MSNBC.com
A 14-year-old girl authorities allege was sexually abused by a 30-year-old woman who posed as a teenage boy said she didn’t know about the ruse but eventually suspected it.
“I kind of, like, guessed, but then every time I questioned her, she would get really mad,” the girl said, “so I just stopped caring.”
Prosecutors allege that the 30-year-old posed as a 17-year-old orphan to gain the trust of the girl’s family, then beat and molested the teen. She was charged this week with child rape and child molestation and was being held in lieu of $150,000 bail.
The girl said she had been lonely before the yearlong relationship began. The 30-year-old woman, who called herself Mark, met the girl at a mall and moved in with her.
“Well, he was really nice, and he knew how to talk to me, because I didn’t really have anybody to talk to because my mom and dad are always at work,” she said.
She said that the relationship initially was “a regular teenage girlfriend-boyfriend thing, like holding hands, hugging, kissing,” but over time “she made it like a serious relationship, like we’re married.”
The police officer wrote in a probable cause statement that although the woman had sexual contact with the girl, “the suspect never let victim see her/his private parts and victim always thought that suspect was male until officer informed her otherwise.”
Police said the woman was found out after an officer checked the suspect’s vehicle, parked at a gas station, to see whether it was stolen. The officer arrested the woman after the check pulled up an outstanding traffic warrant under an alias, Mark.
The 14-year-old also was in the vehicle, and the officer, who recognized the woman from an earlier arrest, asked the girl how she knew the suspect.
“She indicated it was her boyfriend,” said a police sergeant. “That obviously piqued the concern of the officer.”
Authorities allege the woman had sex with the girl, beat her and bit her twice on the back, leaving a scar.
The girl said that she feared the woman would hurt her if she told anyone about the abuse. “I was too scared to do anything about it,” she said.
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