Marybeth Rataic is accused of having sexual contact with a 10-year-old boy she was baby-sitting.
A Connecticut woman is facing charges after police say she had sex with her friend’s 10-year-old son while baby-sitting for the family in Meriden.
Police said Marybeth Rataic, 25, of Willimantic, sexually assaulted the boy three to four times over two weeks in August at the family home in Meriden while she baby-sat four children while their mother was in the hospital giving birth.
Rataic was arrested Tuesday morning and charged with three counts of first-degree sexual assault and seven counts of risk of injury to a minor/impairing the morals of children.
The boy told investigators the sex took place on the living room couch and in his parents’ bedroom. He said Rataic took off his clothes and encouraged the sexual contact, according to the warrant for Rataic’s arrest.
Police said Rataic, the mother of a 9-month-old, continued to stay at the house overnight after the mother returned home and would sneak into the bedroom the boy shared with his brothers.
According to the warrant, Rataic would spend the night in the boy's bed and have intercourse with him while his brothers slept across the room.
The victim told police one of the sexual encounters happened after Rataic had gone to Hartford to buy drugs, the warrant says. According to investigators, the boy''s mother became suspicious when she found a hickey on the boy's neck.
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Rataic denied the allegations and said the victim forced himself on her while they were wrestling and tickling each other, according to the warrant. She told investigators she asked the boy to stop and tried to push him off.
Nonetheless, Rataic is "concerned about the child even after everything that went on," said Ashley Elliott, who lives in the same apartment building as Rataic and said the two are longtime friends.
"Emotionally, she's torn apart," Elliott added.
Rataic is being held on $150,000 bond and is due in court Nov. 25. Information on an attorney for Rataic was not immediately available.
