A 28-year-old Plainview woman faces federal charges after investigators say she arranged to have sex with a 15-year-old boy multiple times this spring.
Cassity Vasquez is charged with a federal felony count of enticement and attempted enticement of a minor, which carries a punishment of 10 years to life in prison.
A federal grand jury returned an indictment on July 8 against Vasquez, who has been in custody since her July 1 arrest in Plainview.
Her charges stem from a Plainview police investigation that began on April 11 after patrol officers responded to reports that a 15-year-old runaway who was in a sexual relationship with Vasquez was at a home in the 200 block of Southeast Seventh Street.
The boy’s family members reportedly told police that they learned that he and Vasquez were exchanging sexual images and messages on a social media app, according to a criminal complaint.
The boy reportedly told family members that he and Vasquez had sex, the complaint states.
Officers arrived at Vasquez’s home where they found the boy, who tried to escape from a window, the complaint states.
The boy was returned to his family.
Meanwhile, Vasquez met with investigators three days later and reportedly admitted to having a sexual relationship with the boy. She said she sexually assaulted the boy six times at her home, the complaint states.
She reportedly said she and the teen regularly communicated through a social media app where she arranged sexual encounters with him, the complaint states.
The boy spoke to forensic interviews and reportedly admitted to only one sexual encounter with Vasquez, the document states.
Investigators searched Vasquez’s social media records and found messages between her and the teen that confirmed a sexual relationship between the two.
Vasquez also met with FBI agents on July 1 and agreed to take a lie detector test.
During the interview, she reportedly denied knowing the boy was underage. She said she was concerned about his age but “put her trust” in the boy.
However, during the lie detector test, she reportedly admitted to knowing that the boy was underage.
She reportedly admitted to communicating with a 17-year-old boy who she believed was 18 or 19 years old.
She also reportedly admitted to having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old when she was 19 or 20 years old at the time. However, after identifying the boy, who was a friend’s stepson, agents learned that there was actually a six-year age difference between the two, the complaint states.
After Vasquez’s arrest, she appeared Monday before a U.S. Magistrate Judge Amanda Burch for a detention hearing after which the judge granted prosecutor’s motion to keep Vasquez in custody during the pendency of her case.
Court records show the judge found Vasquez posed a danger to the community.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Plainview woman accused of sexual relationship with runaway teen
Reporting by Gabriel Monte, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal / Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Gabriel Monte, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal | USA TODAY Network
