Cloverdale woman pleads guilty to 2 felony counts of sex with underage boys

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

A 42-year-old Cloverdale woman, arrested Oct. 4 on charges she had sexual contact with as many as five teenage boys, has pleaded guilty to two felony counts of sexual misconduct with a minor.

Kristina D. Renner has agreed to a plea agreement with the Putnam County Prosecutor's Office in which she will enter a guilty plea to two of the counts as Class D felonies, which are lesser included offenses of the original counts.

In return for the guilty pleas, the three remaining counts filed against Renner will be dismissed, according to documents filed this week in Putnam Circuit Court.

Renner will face a 1 p.m. April 26 sentencing hearing before Judge Matthew L. Headley in Putnam Circuit Court.

With her sentence open to argument, according to the plea agreement, Renner could receive a sentence ranging from no additional time served to six years in prison after pleading guilty to two Class D felonies.

Putnam County Prosecutor Tim Bookwalter recommends that the court accept the plea agreement, in part, because a trial would be an unnecessary burden on taxpayers' money and the court's time, documents indicate.

Renner, who originally pleaded not guilty to all charges during her initial appearance in court Oct. 6, is represented by Indianapolis attorney Steven Barry Geller. She bonded out of the Putnam County Jail on Oct. 17 by posting $2,000 cash bond.

The Cloverdale woman had been booked in on five counts stemming from reported incidents with teenage boys that allegedly occurred during 2003 and 2004. She was originally charged with:

-- Two counts of sexual misconduct with a minor, a Class B felony, regarding sexual intercourse and/or deviate conduct with a child at least 14 years old but less than 16.

-- One count of child seduction, a Class C felony, involving fondling or touching the genitals of a male at least 14 but less than 16 with the intent to arouse or satisfy the sexual desires of the child or defendant.

-- One count of child solicitation, a Class D felony, involving solicitation of a child age 14 or 15 to engage in sexual activity.

-- One count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a Class A misdemeanor involving knowingly or intentionally aiding or inducing a person less than 18 years old to commit an act of delinquency. She was specifically charged with inducing the boys to smoke marijuana and consume alcohol.

While the alleged acts occurred seven or eight years ago, the illicit activity came to light after one of the boys came forward with information late in 2010, Prosecutor Bookwalter said last fall.

That boy's recollections of the incidents led authorities to the other boys, all reportedly his friends, who subsequently cooperated in the investigation.

At the time of the alleged encounters, the boys ranged in age from 14 to 17, court records indicate, while the suspect was 33 or 34 years old. The boys are now all age 21 or older.