Woman Gets Prison in Nebraska Sex Case - Updated

(North Platte, Nebraska) On Monday, 37-year-old Bella Barrera was sentenced to 18 to 36 months in prison for engaging in sex with a 13-year-old boy.

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No Contest Plea in Nebraska Sex Case - Updated
[Previous 12/15/10 post]
(North Platte, Nebraska) Former Salvation Army staff worker Bella A. Barrera appeared in Lincoln County District Court this week and pleaded no contest to felony child abuse stemming from an alleged sexual relationship with a 13-year-old boy.

North Platte television station KNOP says 36-year-old Bella Barrera, of North Platte, changed her plea after prosecutors dropped a charge of sexually assaulting a child.

Police say Barrera began a sexual relationship with the boy in 2007 when she worked at the Wilcox Youth Facility.

No news is available regarding the allegations that the boy fathered Barrera's two-year-old daughter. In other words, there's no confirmation that the boy is the father. In any event, the child's future is a question mark.

Barrera's sentencing has been scheduled for January 24.

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Salvation Army Staffer Accused of Sex with Boy
[Previous 6/8/10 post]
(North Platte, Nebraska) A 36-year-old former Salvation Army staff worker, Bella A. Barrera, has been accused of engaging in sex with a 13-year-old boy, a state ward at the Quinn Wilcox House.

Barrera was convicted of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and false reporting in 2008 after helping the boy escape from the home. She was sentenced to probation for those crimes.

Officials suspected Barrera might have been sexually involved with the boy at the time but he denied it, according to an arrest affidavit.

On April 15, the boy, now 16, admitted to his Health and Human Services social worker that he had, indeed, been involved sexually with Barrera while living at the Wilcox House. He told investigators that he had a single room without a roommate and Barrera would awaken him at night after the other residents were asleep and have intercourse with him.

The boy also told the social worker that Barrera had become pregnant as a result of their relationship. The boy said he was the father of Barrera's 23-month-old daughter, the affidavit said. The boy said Barrera warned him not to disclose that he was the child's father, the affidavit said.

Barrera's trial is scheduled for August 24.