Former CT school employee charged with sexual abuse of 11-year-old

A former Connecticut school employee is facing federal charges after she gave a child she accused of sexual abuse a pearl bracelet engraved with the words “Best Friends for Life with Benefits.”

Alyson Cranick, 43, of Columbia, was charged this week in a federal criminal complaint with soliciting a minor for sexual conduct, federal authorities said.

Cranick is accused of driving the 11-year-old boy at least 14 times to Columbia Lake, Horace Porter School in Columbia or Salmon River State Forest in Colchester, where she sexually assaulted him in her vehicle, according to a Connecticut State Police detective’s affidavit filed last year.

Cranick was arrested by Connecticut State Police in November on a total of four counts of first-degree sexual assault, three counts of unlawful sexual contact with a minor and two counts of endangering a minor, according to Department of Corrections records. The charges span two different judicial districts, according to court records.

Cranick, who was released on state bail totaling $700,000, previously worked as an administrative assistant in Regional School District 19, which includes EO Smith High School in Mansfield and serves students from Willington, Mansfield, Columbia and Ashford.

Federal authorities said Cranick’s first appearance in federal court is scheduled for Wednesday, July 24, in New Haven.

Citing court documents and statements made in court, federal authorities said Cranick allegedly “enticed an 11-year-old boy to engage in sexually explicit conduct with her, first through text messages and Snapchat and then through the internet chat service Discord.”

The underage victim sneaked out of his home after midnight to meet with Cranick and engage in sexual activity in the summer of 2022, federal authorities said. “Between July and October 2022, Cranick exchanged more than 4,700 messages with the underage victim on Discord.”

Regional District 19 Superintendent Sharon M. Cournoyer said in a statement in November that the allegations date back “months before” the district hired Cranick as an administrative assistant. The district learned in September that Cranick was under investigation by the state Department of Children and Families, after which she was placed on administrative leave and “has not been on campus since,” Cournoyer said at the time.

“The employee was hired in February 2023, with a procedural DCF background check, fingerprinting and reference checks revealing no concerning information that would indicate the individual should not be hired,” Cournoyer said in November. “When we were informed of the outcome of the DCF investigation, the individual terminated his or her employment with Regional School District 19.”

The medical records of the victim’s therapy sessions show that he told his therapist that he felt his “abuser” had “manipulated” him, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

State police investigators also reviewed 393 screenshots of Discord messages between the boy and a user they believe was Cranick. Authorities described the messages as “flirtatious and sexual in nature,” the state affidavit states. The messages also allegedly showed “numerous instances” in which she “exploited her influence over” the victim to “emotionally manipulate” her into spending more time with her, state police wrote.

According to the affidavit, the messages also included a photo of a beaded bracelet Cranick allegedly made for the boy, which had a series of letters on it that she said stood for “Best Friends for Life with Benefits.”

According to federal authorities, a conviction for seducing minors into sexual acts carries a minimum sentence of ten years and a maximum of life imprisonment.

The case was investigated by the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force and the Connecticut State Police Eastern District Major Crime Unit. The FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force includes federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.

To report cases of child exploitation, visit www.cybertipline.com.

Originally published: July 24, 2024 at 8:31 am