In 2015, Elaine B. Goodman, 46, committed an act of betrayal and rape that could have landed her in jail for 15 years. Her teen daughter was dating a 13-year-old boy and Goodman started having very inappropriate thoughts about the child. She stated to him at one point “What are you doing with a body like that at 13?”
Soon the middle-aged mom began sending text messages to the teen and arranged to meet him. Goodman drove to the boy’s house around 4:30 a.m. and he snuck outside and got into her car. After intimate kissing, the teen told investigators that Goodman “took his you-know-what and put it in her you-know-what.” After they finished, the boy snuck back inside his home and Goodman left to get ready for work. Goodman bragged about the encounter with a friend who later told police, which sparked the rape investigation. Police were able to obtain DNA evidence from the car as well as recover text messages from Goodman and the teen victim. She was later charged with third and fourth-degree rape, unlawful sexual contact, and sexual solicitation of a child.
All parties admitted to their actions and even though the boy was a willing participant, he said he felt embarrassed. Goodman said in her defense that she was overwhelmed with taking care of her elderly parents and that the entire incident was an aberration in her behavior.
On Jan. 12, the Dover, Delaware, woman was sentenced to two years probation by a judge for her actions that night. Kent County Superior Court Judge Robert B. Young took into account that Goodman has shown compassion not only in taking care of her elderly parents but also to others in the community.
“This came out of the blue. The crime is egregious and affected the victim and his family, which was taken into account. But incarceration is not the answer,” said Judge Young.
