Woman Pleads Guilty in Outhouse Sex Case - Updated

(Casper, Wyoming) Forty-year-old mother-of-six Stacy Lee McLaughlin came to terms with the prosecution for a plea agreement.

She was initially charged with one count of second-degree sexual abuse of a minor after the victim told investigators she “sexually violated” him in a bathroom during an August camping trip.

With the agreement, the felony sexual abuse of a minor charge was dropped and McLaughlin pleaded guilty to felony burglary.

The charge applies to the case because Wyoming law states a person is guilty of burglary if he or she enters a building with intent to commit a felony.

On Thursday, that is what she admitted to in Natrona County District Court. “I went into an occupied structure without permission to perform a sexual act on a minor,” she said through tears after pleading guilty.

Burglary carries a maximum potential penalty of 10 years behind bars. Public defender Kurt Infanger told Judge Scott Skavdahl, however, that the agreement is for a “sentence of straight probation” and a suspended jail term.

So, it appears that McLaughlin skates on a child sex abuse charge by admitting to a burglary charge for entering the men's room to commit child sex abuse. Frankly, it doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

She remains free on $5,000 bond until a sentencing date which awaits scheduling.

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Woman Accused of Outhouse Sex
[Previous 1/18/10 post]
(Casper, Wyoming) In the summer of 2009, a 40-year-old Montana mom, Stacy Lee McLaughlin, was accused of engaging in sex with a 15-year-old boy. She was arrested in October after a two-month investigation.

Authorities say McLaughlin was with a group of people on an Alcova Lake camping trip when the crime is alleged to have occurred shortly after midnight on Aug. 7. The victim told investigators his parents had gone to bed when McLaughlin began "French kissing" him and touching him inappropriately.

Later, she took him to an outhouse, went inside, locked the door and performed a sex act on him, according to an affidavit from the case.

An adult, family friend of the victim who was also part of the camping trip told investigators she became concerned about the victim's whereabouts and went looking for him.

While using the female side of the outhouse, the woman heard "a belt clicking and a zipper and clothing rustling" from the male side, according to the affidavit.

The woman told investigators that after seeing the boy walk out of the outhouse, she looked inside and saw McLaughlin, who later claimed she and the boy "were only making out," according to court documents.

Last week, McLaughlin pleaded not guilty in Natrona County District Court to second-degree sexual abuse of a minor.

A mother-of-six children, McLaughlin is free on a $5,000 personal recognizance bond. A trial date has yet to be scheduled.