Hoosier Mama Gets Prison in Sex Case - Updated

(Indianapolis, Indiana) Yesterday, 38-year-old Shannon Ellis was sentenced to eight years in prison by Marion Superior Court Judge Grant Hawkins for engaging in sex with a 14-year-old boy.

Her attorneys argued for no prison time, saying it would interfere with her counseling and rehabilitation.

Ellis, choking back sobs and dabbing tears from her eyes, offered a brief apology before Hawkins issued the sentence.

"I just want to say I never wanted to hurt anybody in this family," she said, "and I take full responsibility for what happened. . . . I'm so ashamed."

Initially charged with seven felony counts of sexual misconduct with a minor, Ellis was sentenced after entering into an agreement in which she pleaded guilty to two of the Class B felony counts. The deal called for a maximum prison sentence of 10 years but did not require any minimum jail time.

The prosecution had asked for 10 years in prison. The victim's mother was very unhappy with the sentence, indicating that Ellis deserved more time for ruining her son's life.

With Ellis going to prison, it's not clear what will happen to the baby girl. Ellis had been taking care of her while free on bail.

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Hoosier Mama, Boy, Jiggy-Jiggy, Baby, Plea Deal
[Previous 7/3/10 post]
(Indianapolis, Indiana) A mid-thirties local woman, Shannon Ellis, has been accused of felony sexual misconduct with a minor for engaging in sex with a 14-year-old relative.

The sexual episodes occurred in 2007 and 2008 and were only exposed after Ellis became pregnant even though her husband had been vasectomized. A DNA test confirmed the boy as the father of the child, a girl born April 2008.

In the criminal case against Ellis, she has accepted a plea deal and will be sentenced next month.

The plea agreement caps her jail time at a maximum of 10 years. The prosecutor has not asked for minimum jail time.

The boy's mother fears the judge will go easy on the woman "who stole my son's childhood" because Ellis is a woman.

"I think the prosecutors and the courts treat women who do this kind of thing a lot different than they do when it's a man and a girl," the boy's mother said.

When it involves a boy, "they wink and say, 'Now, he's a man! What's the harm?' But that's not right. She needs to pay for what she did just like if it was a 34-year-old man who got a 14-year-old girl pregnant."

Reportedly, Ellis started the sex assaults with a trick to test the strength of the boy's sperm. It appears to have passed the test.

Meanwhile, the little girl resides with Ellis' husband who has filed for divorce.