39-year-old woman sentenced faces 40 years in prison for sex with teen boy

Amanda Watkins, 39-year-old former eighth-grade English teacher at Sheffield Junior High School, Muscle Shoals, Alabama, faces up to 40 years in prison after she was convicted of rape and sodomy last week for having sex with a 15-year-old boy in 2009.

Watkins had pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disease and her attorney, Ralph Holt argued she suffered from eight mental and physical disorders. Doug McKeown, a Dothan psychologist who performed a court-ordered mental evaluation of Watkins, testified Thursday that while she suffers from a variety of mental disorders, she had the ability in December 2009 to know right from wrong.

Watkins was arrested after Muscle Shoals police discovered her and the teen in a vehicle parked at Covenant Christian School. Muscle Shoals police Capt. Lanny Coan testified that Watkins admitted having sex with the teen in her car. She was charged with second-degree rape and second-degree sodomy. She was fired from her job in January 2010 and did not appeal the firing.

Amanda Watkins’ husband testified that her wife was acting erratically in 2009 before being accused of having sex with a 15-year-old high school student. The unusual behavior began around April 2009.

“She started withdrawing from our family — our daughter, myself and our extended family, like her sister and parents,” he testified while being questioned by Holt. He said his wife would sometimes forget to pick their daughter up from after-school care and that his wife began dressing “like a teenager” and going to bars with a female friend and staying out at night

During cross-examination by Colbert District Attorney Bryce Graham, female teacher testified he never suspected his wife might be cheating when she began going to bars and staying out past midnight on the weekend. “That never crossed my mind.”

Amanda Watkins sister, Tara Massey, testified she had seen never Watkins act as she did in 2009.

A sentencing date has not been set for Watkins. She faces two to 20 years in prison on each charge. Colbert Circuit Court Judge Jackie Hatcher allowed Watkins to remain free on a $15,000 bond while awaiting sentencing.

43-year-old woman accused of sex acts with a 12-year-old boy, her preteen son's friend

Patricia Ann Serrano, 43-year-old woman from Orange County, California, has been accused of engaging in sex acts with a 12-year-old boy, her son's friend.

Serrano of Fountain Valley was arrested Tuesday after the mother of the victim alerted authorities about suspicious behavior between Serrano and her son. Serrano was caught in a locked bathroom with the boy during a Halloween party hosted by his parents. The victim's mother didn't observe physical contact between the two, but according to authorities, Serrano had been kissing the boy. Authorities later found out that Serrano and the victim had sexual relations at least twice: once in her apartment and once in her car.

Serrano knew the victim because he was a friend of her own preteen son.

Serrano is charged with three felony counts of lewd acts on a child under 14, according to a press release from the Orange County District Attorney's office. She faces a maximum of 12 years in prison, and she's currently being held on $100,000 bail.

Serrano's apartment had been a popular hangout for other children in the community, and prosecutors fear there may be more victims. Anyone with more information is encouraged to call Supervising District Attorney Investigator Lou Gutierrez at (714) 347-8794 or Fountain Valley Police Department Detective Jesse Hughes at (714) 593-4480.

Brunswick mother accused of giving teen boys alcohol before having sex with them

Shannon Hurley,41-year-old woman from Brunswick, Ohio, has been charged with unlawful sexual conduct with a minor and two counts of contributing to unruliness/delinquency of a minor. Hurley allegedly iquored up and had sex with at least two boys at her house during a sleepover.

Brunswick police say on August 27, Hurley provided the boys, ages 14 and 16, with alcohol. Police said the woman's children knew the two boys and had invited them to their home on Barra Drive in August. Police said Hurley plied the two boys with liquor before having sexual contact with them.

According to the police report, Hurley told police she blacked out. She is currently free on $50,000 bond and will be back in court on Monday.