Convicted for committing sex acts on a 14-year-old boy in a mental health and youth foster facility, a 22-year-old Laramie woman was sentenced Monday to between seven and 10 years in prison.
Rielee Victoria Jones had taken a plea agreement, according to a Wednesday announcement by the Albany County Sheriff’s Office. She will be eligible for a sentence reduction after two years served if she successfully completes a GED, but will have to register as a sex offender, the statement says.
“We acknowledge and are disheartened that a crime such as this would occur within Albany County,” the statement continues. “However, we take immense pride in the commendable efforts of our deputies, who have demonstrated unwavering dedication in apprehending the perpetrator and effectively mitigating the potential for future victims.”
Jones was originally charged with one count of first-degree sexual abuse of a minor and another count of child pornography possession.
She pleaded guilty to having inappropriate contact with a minor child, according to Cathedral Home for Children, her former employer.
The home voiced strong disapproval of Jones’ conduct in a Wednesday email to Cowboy State Daily.
“Cathedral Home is dedicated to the utmost well-being of our clients and is deeply disturbed by the former employee’s conduct,” says the email. “CHC has a multi-layered process of safeguards in place to best prevent or discover any violation of policy or misconduct. Exploiting vulnerable populations is reprehensible and those who perpetrate such acts should be held accountable.
“Nothing is more important than the safety and welfare of our clients and members of our community.”
At The Cottage
The investigation started Oct. 12, when a Cathedral Home for Children cottage coordinator contacted an Albany County deputy regarding a sex case.
The coordinator showed the deputy a phone containing photos of a 14-year-old resident at the home, and a 22-year-old female staffer at the home, in an apparent intimate relationship, according to an evidentiary affidavit by Albany County Sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Brendon Curtis.
Curtis then met with the coordinator. He learned that the teen is in Department of Family Services custody and the Cathedral Home is his guardian. He’d been there since Feb. 6.
The woman in the photos was Jones, the affidavit says.
Looking Through This Phone
The document says the coordinator had originally taken the boy’s “unauthorized” cellphone at the request of his DFS caseworker to determine if he’d been having unauthorized contact with his mother.
But during the search, the caseworker and coordinator allegedly found pictures of the teen and woman that were “inappropriate.”
These included about 27 photos saved in a conversation on Snapchat of Jones’ selfies, including one featuring her topless, the affidavit says.
Other photos showed the pair holding each other in front of a mirror; one showed them holding hands. Some of the photos appeared to be at the Cathedral Home, says the document.
Curtis met with the teen that same day.
The teen reportedly said the pair had engaged in sexual touching from outside one another’s clothes.
When Curtis met with Jones that same day, her story essentially matched the teen’s story, the affidavit indicates.
Pregnancy Talk
Four days later, Curtis received search warrants for Jones’ phone and the boy’s phone. Three days after that, Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation Special Agent Daniel Brown took custody of the phones.
Brown reportedly found three Snapchat accounts for the youth and one for Jones.
He found conversations where the pair discussed having sex, and Jones potentially being pregnant with the teen’s child, the affidavit claims.
He also allegedly found an explicit selfie video by the teen.
On Nov. 2, Curtis interviewed the teen again. This time, the youth said Jones picked him up after lights-out at the cottage twice and took him to her home, where they had sex.
Curtis executed a search warrant at Jones’ home Nov. 3.
He found that her apartment matched the teen’s description of her apartment, says the affidavit.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
