Louisiana Woman, 40, Had Sex with Boy, 12

(Houma, Louisiana) A 40-year-old Raceland woman, Wendy Lou Carlos, pleaded guilty this week to indecent behavior with a juvenile for engaging in oral sex with a 12-year-old boy.

Carlos was arrested in February 2008 and charged with aggravated rape of a child to which a conviction carries a mandatory life sentence.

However, the boy's family petitioned District Judge Johnny Walker to show leniency toward Carlos. As a result, the charges were reduced.

Carlos was sentenced to five years in state prison, to be suspended after serving one year. Since Carlos has been in jail since her February arrest, she is scheduled to be released after serving about seven months.

She will be required to register as a sex offender, attend counseling sessions and serve a two-year supervised probation upon her release.

Wearing shackles and a red jail uniform, the short, dark-haired Carlos, who told the judge she dropped out of high school in ninth grade, nodded her head as she replied to Walker’s admonishments. "It’s your responsibility to protect juvenile children," Walker said.

Carlos was lucky.