An Indiana woman has been charged with raping a 16-year-old boy with autism while she was baby-sitting him.
In an arrest report, police said they boy’s parents contacted them on Monday after they noticed suspicious activity on a surveillance camera in his room. In the video, Stephanie Bradshaw, 47, is seen taking her pants off while tucking the boy into bed and turning the camera away from the bed, the Indianapolis Star reported.
Thirty minutes later, the babysitter returned downstairs in the home.
According to the report, the parents told Carmel police that their son is non-verbal and they keep cameras in the room so they can watch after him. After seeing the incident last week, they checked earlier footage from nights when Bradshaw had babysat the boy and found a video from last Wednesday in which she again takes off her pants and then “appears to have intercourse with the juvenile victim.” A few minutes later, she “abruptly” gets off the boy and pulls her pants up. The boys parents came into the room just a minute later.
Detectives took Bradshaw into custody on Monday, WISH reported.
“Ms. Bradshaw uttered that the juvenile victim instigated the encounter,” court documents read. “She described the juvenile victim as very ‘handsy’ and aggressive.”
Bradshaw later admitted having sex with the victim on Wednesday, telling investigators she wanted him “to experience a sexual encounter.”
Prosecutors said Tuesday Bradshaw has been charged with rape when the victim is mentally disabled and two counts of sexual battery. One count of sexual battery involves a victim who is mentally disabled and the other relates to her being a child care worker, according to jail records. She is being held on a $30,000 bail and is due back in court on November 9.
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[Featured image: Stephanie Bradshaw/Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office]