Police: Latrobe Woman, 40, Used Boy, 13, For Sex, Drugs
LATROBE, Pa. (KDKA/AP) - Police have charged a 40-year-old Latrobe woman with having sex with a 13-year-old boy and then making him fake a toothache so he could get painkillers for her.
Latrobe police have charged Jesse Kuhns with having sex with the boy when he stayed at her home in March.
She also is accused of threatening him to keep him from telling anyone.
Police say Kuhns told the boy, "Don't tell anyone or I will hurt you and bring your family down." Police say she also told the boy she could be sentenced for a very long time.
"They were quiet; mostly they did all their stuff at night. They were up all night pretty much," said James Belcher, one of Kuhns' neighbors.
The sexual assaults allegedly began at an apartment on Miller Street in Latrobe in August 2013.
The boy was visiting Kuhns' teenage son who was older. As they were sitting on the couch, the criminal complaint reports the woman "lifted her shirt, exposing her breasts and her bra," asking them "if they liked what they saw."
"I talked to the one son, 'cause he came out one night," said Belcher. "He said he was from Texas, and he was moving back.
The boy told police that in October, Kuhns took him to the Greensburg Walmart where he's accused of taking Halloween lights and baby clothes without paying. Caught by a manager, the boy was fined, but not charged.
That same day, back at the apartment, investigators say Kuhns again allegedly exposed her bare breasts asking the boy to have sex. He said no.
"Shocking, surprised people would do that, especially with a 13-year-old," Belcher said.
In December, the boy allegedly was stealing with her again.
Police say she also coached the boy about how to act if he had a toothache so she could obtain hydrocodone, which he was prescribed during emergency room visits in October, February and March.
Medical records at Excela Latrobe Hospital show Kuhns posing as the boy's aunt, taking him the ER. He was prescribed hydrocodone and Adderall, and then giving Kuhns the prescriptions.
Online court records don't list an attorney for Kuhns.
She faces a preliminary hearing Oct. 20 on charges including statutory sexual assault and corruption of minors.
Recently, Kuhns moved. KDKA's Mary Robb Jackson knocked on the door Friday, but no one appeared to be home.
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