LAKE FOREST – A 36-year-old Lake Forest woman was arrested Friday on suspicion of having sex with a 13-year-old boy who authorities say she met in Maryland after the two cultivated an online relationship.

Rachel Ann Hicks first befriended the boy while playing X-Box Live online in September, and the two began trading phone calls, texts and e-mails, including sexually explicit images and movies, Orange County Sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino said.

While visiting family members in Florida over the Thanksgiving holiday, Hicks, a married mother of three, drove to the boy’s home in Maryland and “engaged in sexual activity” with him, Amormino said.

The boys’ family confronted him after finding “romantic” messages from Hicks on his cell phone, and he admitted to the relationship, Amormino said.

Since Hicks used a fake name when communicating with the boy, and claimed to be 23-years-old, investigators worked with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations Child Exploitation Unit to determine her true identity, Amormino said.

She was taken into custody at her Lake Forest home Friday afternoon, and is being held without bail on suspicion of rape, child molestation and sexual solicitation of a minor, Amormino said.

Hicks admitted to having a relationship with at least one other underage boy in California, Amormino said, and authorities are searching for additional victims.

“She flew to Florida and drove to Maryland, so apparently there are no boundaries,” Amormino said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact authorities at 1-866-TIP-OCSD or 1-866-847-6273.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7939 or semery@ocregister.com