Babysitter Gets Jail for Sex Abuse of Girl

(Havana, Illinois) A 26-year-old babysitter, Christina Buffington, pleaded guilty to felony aggravated sexual battery and sexual exploitation of a child for engaging in sexual contact with a 13-year-old girl. In accordance with a plea agreement, prosecutors dropped aggravated criminal sexual abuse and criminal sexual assault charges.

Between March and April, Buffington and Stanley C. Sisk Jr., 36, of 301 W. Race St. in San Jose, were baby-sitting the teen in Mason City. Sisk was charged May 17 for indecent solicitation of a child, aggravated criminal sexual abuse, two counts of criminal sexual assault and sexual exploitation of a child.

Sisk is also accused of having sex with the girl he was baby-sitting, as well as having sex with Buffington while the child was present.

Mason County Court Judge Thomas Brownnfield sentenced Buffington to 180 days in jail and three years' probation. She was also ordered to register as a sex offender. Buffington was given 43 days credit for time already served. Judge Brownfield said he gave her a "favorable disposition" since she has a clean criminal record.

For his part in the alleged crimes and actually having sex with the 13-year-old girl, Stanley Sisk faces more serious charges. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for September 28th. Sisk is currently in custody in the Mason County Jail with bond set at $50,000.

It's not clear how the parents could have allowed a 36-year-old man and a 26-year-old woman to babysit a 13-year-old girl. It's also not clear why a 13-year-old requires a babysitter. There is something screwy about this entire situation.


[Update 09/21/07]

Buffington violates her parole.

Christina Buffington, 26, agreed to a negotiated plea in June and pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a child. She was given 180 days in jail and 36 months probation but was released from the Mason County Jail and had her sentenced stayed until the end of her supervised release.

One of the terms of Buffington's parole was that she obtain prior approval from her parole officer before using the Internet. In early August, Buffington's parole officer, who monitors her computer use, noted she had violated her parole agreement by logging into her MySpace account twice in July without approval.

Mason County State's Attorney Kristen Miller said Buffington admitted to violating her parole and was remanded into custody of the Mason County Jail, where she will serve the remainder of her original jail sentence.

Therefore, it appears she will do the entire 180 days. Pretty dumb, eh? Even so, she was treated quite leniently by the court.