Gwendolyn Rae Cloutier, 47, to serve a year's probation in case involving sex acts with a 15-year-old

GRAHAM — After close to three years, a woman charged with sex acts with a 15-year-old pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges Monday, Feb. 11, in Alamance County Superior Court, and was sentenced to a year’s probation.

“This is a pretty reduced plea,” Judge Tom Lambeth said in court.

Gwendolyn Rae Cloutier, 47, of Mebane had no criminal record when she was charged in October 2016 with indecent liberties with a child, two counts of statutory rape of a child, and two counts of sex offense with a child. She accepted an Alford plea, meaning she pleaded guilty without admitting to wrongdoing, to two misdemeanor counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and was sentenced to a year of unsupervised probation with the condition that she have no contact with the victim or his family.

Assistant District Attorney Rick Champion said the victim had known Cloutier’s daughter in 2016. He fell asleep on a couch in her home when he woke up to Cloutier touching him. They had another encounter a few weeks before his 16th birthday.

None of that came out until the victim was called as a witness against Cloutier in family court several months later, defense lawyer Woody Vann said, which he called an attempt to “weaponize” the events.

Now 19, the victim, the only witness against Cloutier, has been living out of state for much of the past couple of years, which Champion — who only took on the case when he rejoined the District Attorney’s office in January — said might have been why the case has dragged on so long. He had returned to North Carolina when asked, Champion said, but did not appear in court Monday and accepted this conclusion to the case, even if his family had reservations.

Vann said Cloutier had been going through marital and financial problems at that time and regretted any consequences the victim suffered from how he interpreted what happened between them.

“She’s deeply regretful of everything that may have happened,” Vann said. “It’s embarrassing.”

Reporter Isaac Groves can be reached at igroves@thetimesnews.com or 336-506-3045. Follow him on Twitter at @tnigroves.