A 42-year-old woman was arrested this week in northern California after allegedly having sex with a trio of high school football players.
Mary Fletcher – who also goes by Debbie Fletcher, according to NBC 5 – was taken into custody on Tuesday in Siskiyou County after being accused of sexually exploiting three members of the Mount Shasta High School football team.
Fletcher also is charged with dissuading a witness or victim, according to reports.
Cops were made aware of the accusations against Fletcher late last year but only recently completed their investigation.
Fletcher allegedly met the boys while working with a team photographer, NBC 5 reported. No school officials were involved in any of the alleged incidents.
We just received a mugshot for Mary Fletcher, who also goes by Debbie. She’s facing 4 sex charges among others. https://t.co/g5voNlfGh7 pic.twitter.com/m7H8WdBRsp
— Kristin Hosfelt (@kristinhosfelt) March 1, 2017
While details are scant, police allege Fletcher met with the boys at different locations across the county.
Sheriff Jon Lopey told News 10 he believes text messages will reveal Fletcher attempted to silence the alleged victims after the fact.
Fletcher is facing four counts of unlawful sexual intercourse – including single counts with two alleged victims and two counts with a third alleged victim.
She’s scheduled to appear in court later this month.
A 42-year-old California woman has been arrested for allegedly having sex with three high school football players.
Mary Frances Fletcher, also known as Debbie Fletcher, was arrested Tuesday on charges of unlawful sexual intercourse after being accused of having sex with three players from the Mount Shasta High School football team after meeting them while working with a team photographer, Siskiyou County Sheriff Jon Lopey told The Post.
“It was kind of a chance encounter and she evidently developed a relationship with the boys at a later time,” Lopey said Thursday, adding that there’s no evidence the alleged sexual contact occurred on school grounds or involved school employees.
The investigation against Fletcher started with a complaint received from the Mount Shasta Police Department last September. Detectives then launched an investigation, which revealed the alleged offenses happened in unincorporated areas of the county several weeks before the initial report by school officials to the police department.
Fletcher, who was also charged with dissuading a victim or witness, made no statements affirming or denying the allegations during her arrest, said Lopey, adding that the case was one of the more “unusual” he’s encountered during his 39 years in law enforcement.
“We have small-knit communities here in Siskiyou County and we have good schools and pretty good kids, so it’s pretty unusual for students to be exploited like this,” Lopey told The Post. “This is a relatively rare offense that occurs. It’s very alarming, it’s something that’s very shocking to the senses and it certainly disturbs the entire community.”
Fletcher was released after posting $10,000 bail. Lopey said she had hired an attorney, but did not have additional information. She’s due back in court to be arraigned on March 22.
District Attorney Kirk Andrus told NBC5 that he’s trying to be sensitive to the victims in the case as the prosecution unfolds.
“I have spoken with some of the victims, and you know, these cases are always challenging,” Andrus said. “I mean, especially for a young person that are, by definition, not prepared for this kind of relationship. Relationship is probably the wrong word, but they’re not prepared for this kind of interaction with an adult.”
Andrus told KTVL that Fletcher could have been arrested at any time during the investigation if deputies felt they had probable cause, but deputies determined Fletcher wasn’t an immediate danger to the community.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact the department’s Major Crimes Unit at (530) 841-2900.