A married mother who set up a fake Facebook profile to seemingly entice a teenage boy into meeting her with her was sentenced Tuesday to three years in prison.
Marie Dent, 44, a mother of two, from the United Kingdom, posed as a teenage girl on her fake social media account to contact a 15-year-old boy, the BBC reported.
Dent — described as a “predator” by law enforcement — and the teenager later engaged in sexual activity in the boy’s bedroom.
The woman, who reportedly took the teen on a beach “date,” went on to buy the boy’s mother chocolates ahead of meeting her and hid her hair over her face during the encounter, according to The Sun.
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Dent and the teen boy reportedly met once in November 2016, and again in December, both times claiming she was also 15. Dent was arrested two days later after the teen’s family contacted authorities.
The boy and Dent allegedly argued about her age when they had met in late 2016, but the teen stated he wasn’t pressured into sexual activity with the woman although he did not initiate the activity.
Dent’s defense argued in court that Dent’s “behavior was prompted by emotional needs and not sexual gratification,” after suffering abuse throughout her life.
In August, Dent admitted to three charges of sexual activity and pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images, The Sun reported. Dent was sentenced to three years in prison and has been placed on a sex offender registry.