Barbara Case Gets Prison in Boy-Sex Case - Updated

(Harrisonburg, Virginia) Yesterday in U.S. District Court, Barbara Renee Case, 39, pleaded guilty to traveling to Australia to engage in illicit sex with a 15-year-old boy.

Case met the 15-year-old boy online in December 2007, when she was 36. After five months of sexually explicit conversations online and on the telephone, Case flew to Australia and had sex with the boy numerous times over several days at a cabin she rented.

In 2008, Case was convicted in Australia and given a suspended sentence. As a result of yesterday's conviction in Virginia, Case was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison.

Interestingly, mother-of-three Barbara Case has the distinction of being convicted, sentenced and ordered to register as a sex offender on two continents. And her troubles all progressed from an Internet flirtation with a youngster.

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Woman Gets No Jail for Sex with Aussie Boy
[Previous 9/16/08 post]
(Victoria, Australia) Earlier this summer, a 36-year-old American woman, Barbara Case, was arrested for allegedly engaging in a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old Australian boy she met over the Internet.

It seems the provocative keyboarding style of the boy prompted Case to tell her husband and three children that she was going on vacation but, instead, she caught a flight to Australia to be with the boy.

It's unclear what Case was looking for but what she got was criminal charges of illegal sexual intercourse and oral sex with a boy under 16. In August, Case pleaded guilty to the charges and her case was scheduled for court adjudication.

Pleading guilty to two charges of sexual penetration of a child under the age of 16, the court heard Case met the boy through an online game called Runescape on Christmas Day last year.

"You knew he was 15, and you corresponded regularly," Judge Tim Wood said.

In May, Case flew to Australia to meet the boy.

They spent their first night together in a holiday park cabin in Bendigo.

For the following 11 days, the pair had intercourse on eight occasions and engaged in oral sex three times.

They were caught when the boy's parents became concerned and contacted police.

Today, Barbara Case sobbed as she was sentenced in Bendigo County Court by Judge Tim Wood. She received 16 months in jail, suspended for two years, and was warned that she could serve the time if she committed additional offenses.

Judge Wood also ordered her to register as a serious sex offender which would seem to only apply if she plans to visit or reside in Australia again. It was hinted that she may face charges in the U.S. (Virginia) but there's no indication that American officials are taking action.

In summary, the story is presumably over. Case was charged and convicted of child sex crimes, sentenced to no jail and likely has already boarded a flight to return to her humiliated family in Virginia.

Tip: John Ray