Groton woman pleads not guilty to teen sex charges
A Groton mother accused of having an illegal sexual relationship with a 14-year-old boy pleaded not guilty Wednesday when she appeared in New London Superior Court.
Town police in September charged Dawn M. Kerr, 35, of 76 Osprey Drive with second-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor. Released after posting a $50,000 bond, she retained attorney Paul F. Chinigo and made her first appearance Wednesday in the courtroom where serious cases are heard.
Although court records indicate that the alleged sex acts were consensual, it is illegal for an adult to have sex with somebody under 16, which is the so-called age of consent in Connecticut. The Day does not identify victims in sexual assault cases.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, the mother of the alleged victim told police in August that she suspected her son was involved in a sexual relationship with Kerr, who is the mother of one of the boy's friends. The mother said she had allowed the teen to stay at Kerr's house while she was working, but that he started smoking marijuana, sneaking out of home at night and getting into trouble. The mother said her son began asking constantly to be picked up by Kerr, who on one occasion retrieved him from a family vacation in upstate New York for a shopping trip to Kittery, Maine, with Kerr and her children.
The mother reported that another parent showed her text messages in which Kerr and that parent's daughter discussed the teen, and Kerr said the teen could come and live with her when he was 18. She texted that she hoped the teen could wait until he was 18 because there's something about him that makes her happy, according to the affidavit.
Asked about her relationship with the teen during a meeting at police headquarters, Kerr said he was one of several youths who liked to hang around at her house. Confronted with the texts, she began to cry and admitted to having sex with the victim. She said she knew it was wrong but was going through a divorce and liked the attention the alleged victim gave her, according to the affidavit.
The teen told police he and Kerr had sex at least three times and would Snap Chat each other about sex but refused to give further detail, according to the affidavit.
