The Daviess County Sheriff’s Department placed a Jasper woman under arrest late last week as a result of a warrant that was issued accusing her of engaging in inappropriate sexual behaviors with a 15-year-old male.
23-year old Tabitha Benton of Jasper was charged with sexual misconduct with a minor.
A probable cause affidavit says the incidents took place between January 1st and December 1st of last year.
An investigation was launched in late September when the Daviess County Department of Child Services reported a possible sex abuse case involving the 15-year-old male and an 18-year-old female identified as Britney Freeman. In October the department told officers with the Washington Police Department they had located Freeman, but had discovered her real name was Tabitha Benton and that she was 23, not 18.
The victim admitted he had sexual relations with Benton while being in a relationship with her for the last two years. He also admitted Benton was pregnant with his child.
The probable cause also says a detective with the Washington Police Department was notified by an investigator with the Dubois County Prosecutor’s Office about an incident that happened in Washington. Investigators in Dubois County were called to Memorial Hospital in Jasper back in November regarding a female who had possibly tried to self-abort her baby.
Benton was released from the Daviess County Security Center after posting $5,000 bond.
