Woman Pleads Guilty To Rape, Sodomy Of 13 Year Old Boy

PRATTVILLE — An Autauga County woman has pleaded guilty to rape and sodomy charges in a case where the victim was a 13-year-old boy.

Jennifer Rose Ingram, 31, of Deatsville, entered the pleas Monday morning before Circuit Judge Bill Lewis. She pleaded guilty to rape in the second degree, sodomy in the second degree and providing a controlled substance to minor charges, courthouse records show. In the plea negotiations, prosecutors dropped two rape charges and a sodomy charge.

Rape charges were filed because the teen was under 16, the age of consent in Alabama. The boy couldn’t legally consent to the relationship, Sheriff Joe Sedinger said in January when Ingram was arrested.

Ingram has remained in the Autauga Metro Jail under bonds totaling $65,000 since shortly after her arrest. She appeared before Lewis dressed in dark blue jail garb and restrained in handcuffs. She admitted to the sexual acts with the teen. She also admitted that she provided marijuana and Klonopin to the boy. Klonopin is an anti-seizure and anti-anxiety drug, according to the WebMD website.

The state is recommending a 15-year-sentence on the drug charge and eight years each on the sex charges, court records show. The drug charge is the more serious charge of the three, a Class A felony, said Holly Free, the assistant district attorney handling the case. The punishment range for a Class A felony is 10 to 99 years to life in prison.

The sex charges are both Class B felonies, with a punishment range of two to 20 years, Free said.

Heather Dixon, Ingram’s attorney, indicated to the court that Ingram will be seeking probation at sentencing. Lewis will sentence Ingram on Aug. 8.

Ingram knew the victim, Sedinger said. Another juvenile caught Ingram and the boy having sex and that juvenile told the boy’s mother, the sheriff said. The boy’s mother came to the sheriff’s office to report the incident and that’s how the investigation began.

Source: www.montgomeryadvertiser.com