Pennsylvania Babysitter Gets Prison for Raping Child

(Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) In February 2008, a 34-year-old Luzerne County woman, Tracy Vasholz, pleaded guilty to rape of a child stemming from more than 10 years of sexual abuse of a boy, starting at age five, while she was babysitting.

Yesterday, Vasholz was sentenced by Luzerne County Judge Chester Muroski to four to eight years in prison.

Vasholz “groomed” the child into sexual encounters by having him rub her feet and back until he became comfortable touching her body.

As the boy got older, Brust said, Vasholz gave him marijuana and alcohol that impaired his mind.

The boy, now 19, and his mother notified authorities in August.

“It has affected him traumatically since he was a young boy until he was a young teenager,” his mother said. “His life will be totally different today if this never happened. He got wrapped up in a lot of bad things because of this. He didn’t know how to express his feelings on what was going on. When he did come out with it, everything changed. Even in our relationship, we’re best friends, not just mother and son.”

Vasholz apologized to the family, saying she never meant to hurt the boy.

Vasholz has also been classified as a violent sexual predator requiring registration for life.