Racine County child sexual assault, 41-year-old woman charged
Kerry Hughes
RACINE, Wis. - A 41-year-old Burlington woman has been charged – accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a child under the age of 13.
According to the Racine County Sheriff's Office, Kerry Hughes allegedly sent inappropriate messages and had physical, sexual contact with the child. A forensic interview was conducted at the Child Advocacy Center with the child, which corroborated the allegations.
A third party, whom Hughes had confided in, also corroborated the allegations. Information was also obtained that there are possible additional victims, the sheriff's office says.
According to the criminal complaint, the child had been engaging in a texting and sexual relationship with Hughes.
The child stated the conversations continued via text, and progressively "got worse." Specifically, the child stated "we started texting, and then I tried to stop, and then I kept, and then I kept going. So then we kept, and then I kept texting, and then it started getting worse and worse. We started talking about bad things and then pictures," according to the complaint.
The child told investigators that the "bad texting" included Hughes sending several completely nude photographs of herself.
According to the complaint, Hughes routinely told the child to delete the photos and contents of their conversations, stating that if the child doesn’t tell anyone, they both won’t get into any trouble.
The child detailed an incident that occurred at Hughes's house. She allegedly instructed the child to come to the bathroom, where she inappropriately touched the child, according to the complaint.
The child detailed another incident of inappropriate touching – this occurred in a vehicle.
During the course of this investigation, at least one other child came forward indicating Hughes had texted, soliciting sex.
Hughes was taken into custody and refused to provide a statement.
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The following charges were recommended to the Racine County District Attorney’s Office:
- 1st Degree Sexual Assault of a child < 13 years old (2 counts)
- Child Enticement (2 counts)
- Using a Computer to Facilitate a Child Sex Crime
- Causing Child < 13 to View/Listen to Sexual Activity
- Exposing Genitals, Public Area, Intimate Parts
- Expose Child to Harmful Material
The Racine County Sheriff’s Office CIB is requesting anyone with additional information, contact Inv. Kwaterski at 262-636-3323.