ANDERSON — A detective testified during a sentencing hearing Thursday that a 17-year-old former foreign exchange student did not want his host mother put in jail for having sex with him.
Anderson police Detective Heather McClain testified in Madison Circuit Court that an interpreter spoke with the victim and told her the victim did not want 32-year-old Tricia D. Mallernee to go to prison.
“(The interpreter) said they had no objection to the plea agreement or the sentencing,” McClain testified. “(The victim) was glad there would be no prison time to Ms. Mallernee because he did not want to see her children without their mother.”
As per the terms of a plea agreement with prosecutors, Judge Fredrick Spencer gave Mallernee a three-year suspended sentence on each of four counts of child solicitation. The judge gave Mallernee a one-year suspended sentence for contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a misdemeanor.
Mallernee declined comment at the sentencing hearing on her attorney’s advice.
All of the sentences will be served at the same and she must register as a sex offender. Mallernee pleaded guilty as charged on June 3.
According to court documents:
Mallernee began having sex with the 17-year-old student about two weeks after his arrival in early July 2008.
The sexual relationship continued through April. The teen told investigators he initially wanted to be in the relationship. But later he tried to end it, fearing Mallernee was becoming “emotionally attached and he did not feel the same way.”
Mallernee allegedly threatened to have the boy removed from the home if he ended the relationship, law enforcement officials said. He told investigators that he was afraid that moving to a new home would mean having to stop participating in school activities. He continued in the relationship.
Although 17 is old enough to consent to a sexual relationship, because Mallernee was the teen’s host mother, she was considered his legal custodian, making her guilty of child seduction under Indiana law.
The relationship came to the attention of Indiana Department of Children’s Services case workers, who then contacted police. The Herald Bulletin doesn’t general identify sex crime victims.
Contact Shawn McGrath: 640-4883, shawn.mcgrath@heraldbulletin.com
Cops, courts and fires
Woman gets suspended sentence for child seduction
- Cops, courts and fires
-
-
Indianapolis woman whose fetus died in suicide try freed
A Chinese immigrant who tried to kill herself by eating rat poison was free on bond Tuesday after more than a year in an Indianapolis jail on charges that she killed her 33-week-old fetus.
-
Indiana to close South Bend juvenile detention center
A northern Indiana juvenile detention center that's one of the state's four remaining centers for young offenders will close this summer.
-
Arrest log: May 22
Arrests made by Madison County law enforcement on Sunday and Monday, based on Madison County Jail records.
-
Arrest Log: May 21
Arrests made by Madison County law enforcement on Saturday and Sunday, based on Madison County Jail records. Charges are recommended by arresting officers, but are not final until the Madison County prosecutor reviews the case and files official charges.
-
Arrest Log: May 20
Arrests made by Madison County law enforcement on Friday and Saturday, based on Madison County Jail records.
-
Arrest log: May 19
Arrests made by Madison County law enforcement on Thursday and Friday, based on Madison County Jail records.
-
Circuit Court judge applying for Court of Appeals
Circuit Court Judge Rudy Pyle is a little bit closer to his goal of being appointed to the Indiana Court of Appeals. On Wednesday, Pyle was one of five semifinalists selected out of 14 applicants.
-
Woman claims she was teaching others safe meth production
Police arrested three people Tuesday for manufacturing methamphetmine in a residence in the 2400 block of Jackson Street.
-
Sparks matter not on agenda for safety board
The pending termination of former Anderson police chief Darron Sparks was not discussed during Thursday’s safety board meeting.
-
Arrest log: May 18
Arrests made by Madison County law enforcement on Wednesday and Thursday, based on Madison County Jail records.
- More Cops, courts and fires Headlines
-
Indianapolis woman whose fetus died in suicide try freed
