CARLISLE COUNTY, KY (WSIL) -- A 22-year-old woman from Bardwell has been arrested after admitting to having an "intimate, physical relationship" with a 12-year-old child.
Information on the arrest stems from a press release from the Carlisle County Sheriff's Office.
On Thursday, April 6, the sheriff's office was contacted to investigate a possible illegal sexual act between a 12-year-old girl and a 22-year-old woman named Kaitlyn Hawthorne after the mother of the girl found a cell phone in the child's possession that the mother had not given her.
After an investigation, Deputy Green of the sheriff's office learned that a relationship had begun between Hawthorne and the child in October of 2022 when Hawthorne was the family's babysitter. Hawthorne had made inappropriate comments about the child, and the mother told Hawthorne to stay away from the child.
In January, Hawthorne had an accomplice, 18-year-old Shyann Danner, deliver a cell phone to the victim.
On Friday, April 7, Deputy Green interviewed both Hawthorne and Danner. In the interview, Danner admitted to knowing that the girl's mother did not want Hawthorne to communicate with the child. Additionally, Danner confessed that she knew she was delivering the phone to a minor.
Hawthorne told Deputy Green that she was in love with the child, and that they had an intimate, physical relationship when she babysat for her.
Hawthorne was arrested and charged with Unlawful Transaction of a Minor 1st Degree - Illegal Sex Act, Victim Under 16 YOA. The crime is a Class B Felony. Hawthorne is incarcerated at the McCracken County Regional Jail.
The investigation is active and ongoing.
