A Glouster woman accused of using her 16-year-old stepdaughter as a prostitute in exchange for money and drugs last fall changed her plea to guilty in the Athens County Common Pleas Court on Wednesday.
Aileen Mays, 27, originally pleaded not guilty at her arraignment Oct. 16 to three indictments — one charging three counts of compelling prostitution and one trafficking in persons, one charging theft, and the third charging aggravated possession of drugs.
Mays was sentenced to five years in prison and is required to register as a tier II sex offender for 25 years. She will not have to pay any fines other than her court costs.
The victim was used as a prostitute for 69-year-old Fred Kittle Sr. in his Rocky Point Road home in Athens.
The victim is in the “custody of the state of Ohio,” Athens County Prosecutor Keller Blackburn said Wednesday.
In a Feb. 25 pretrial hearing, however, Mays’ attorney, William Biddlestone, who was appointed to defend her Nov. 6 after her original public defender reported a conflict of interest, said the minor is living with her grandmother.
Although Kittle’s case was initially dismissed in the Athens County Municipal Court while law enforcement officials investigated his case, Blackburn said Mays will be required to testify against him in court.
Kittle, a registered sex offender in Athens County, was arrested Sept. 27 for for one count of compelling prostitution and one count of importuning, according to a previous Post article.
“They were looking to rob him,” Blackburn said of Mays and her stepdaughter, though he was unsure how the two knew Kittle prior to the incident.
Even though he confirmed that “Kittle had winnings from a casino gambling trip,” he does not know if that was a reason, or one of the reasons, Mays intended to steal from him.
Blackburn also said while Kittle engaged in sexual activity with the 16-year-old, Mays took drugs in Kittle’s kitchen, which he gave to her in exchange for sex with the minor.
If convicted, Kittle’s maximum sentence would be four and a half years in prison; there are no court dates set for him in the Athens County Common Pleas Court as of press time, according to court documents.
Athens County Sheriff Pat Kelly, whose office assisted in the investigation of the case, said he is “satisfied” with the outcome of the case and that “now the teenager can go on with her life.”
Megan Gallagher, president and founder of Ohio University End Slavery Movement, did not return The Post’s request for comment by press time regarding the organization’s thoughts on Mays’ consequences.
Blackburn called it a “sad case where drugs had completely distorted Mays’ life,” adding in a news release from his office that Mays put her stepdaughter in “an extremely dangerous and harmful position.”
Until Kittle’s trial, Mays will remain incarcerated in the Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail on a $200,000 bond.
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