The Tennessean
August 5, 2011
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20110805/NEWS03/308050059/Ex-volunteer-youth-leader-at-Franklin-church-gets-6-months-for-teen-abuse
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| Monica Rankin will serve six months in the county jail. / Franklin Police Department |
The graphic details of a sexual relationship between a teenage boy and an adult woman were aired in court yesterday as prosecutors asked a Williamson County judge to send her to prison for at least five years.
The defendant, 31-year-old Monica Rankin, instead received a term of six months in the county jail with suspended sentences of two to five years running concurrently.
Rankin pleaded guilty in March to nine felony counts stemming from her contact with the boy. The two met in 2009 when Rankin, then 29, volunteered to lead a youth group at The People’s Church in Franklin. She was indicted on the charges in late 2010.
Their relationship quickly became sexual. According to testimony offered in Judge Robbie Beal’s courtroom, it took only three days for a mildly flirtatious exchange of text messages to develop into an elaborate and explicit discussion of sexual fantasies that included Rankin sending the boy nude photos of herself.
“I hate that I did it,” Rankin testified of the relationship. “I hate that I didn’t have control.”
Detective Stephanie Cisco of the Franklin Police Department read transcripts of those texts in open court and said the exchanges often lasted more than 30 minutes. Rankin offered the fantasy scenarios and wrote with detail, according to Cisco. Other female members of the church group were included in an orgy fantasy that she texted to the boy.
Police testified they discovered at least two or three sexual encounters that occurred between June and August of 2009. The teen male is Rankin’s only victim, according to authorities.
One of those encounters took place at Rankin’s home when she invited several teens from the church group to her home to watch a movie. She and the male victim sat on the couch with a blanket covering their laps and proceeded to manually stimulate each other.
When Rankin took the stand Thursday, prosecutor Mary Katherine White hammered on the point that other children were in the room. One girl, Rankin confirmed, sat with them on the couch and was no more than a foot away. Meanwhile, Rankin’s then husband was in another room.
It was not alleged that the two ever had sexual intercourse.
Jason Barrineau, one of the People's Church pastors, said that during her time at the church he had to caution Rankin several times about following guidelines regarding outings and supervision of youth group members. None of those warnings was about inappropriate contact, he said.
Rankin’s ex-husband sought a divorce around the same time police confronted her about the encounters. She remarried just weeks ago, and her new husband has two young children. Rankin also has three kids of her own.
In asking for leniency, Rankin said her ex-husband was addicted to pornography and treated her as a sex object. Her defense attorney, Venus Niner, offered the conclusion of three separate therapists that Rankin is not likely to commit her crimes again. Rankin also has no prior criminal history and several family members sat in the gallery as a show of support.
Judge Beal acknowledged he gave Rankin the “smallest amount of jail time I can to accomplish the court’s purpose,” and leaned on those circumstances to justify his ruling.
“There will be those who believe that a double standard has been applied,” Beal said from the bench.
Contact Josh Adams at 615-771-5417 or jadams@tennessean.com
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