Babysitter Accused Of Raping 10-Year-Old Boy Claims ‘He Forced Himself On Me’

A babysitter accused of raping a 10-year-old boy is claiming that she was forced into the act.

Marybeth Rataic, a 25-year-old Connecticut woman, was said to have had “three or four sexual encounters” with the pre-teen in question, but she shares a different side of the story.

According to a report from NBC Connecticut, Rataic claimed that the 10-year-old had a crush on her and “forced himself on her while they were wrestling and tickling each other.”

In the affidavit, she tells investigators that she asked the boy to stop and tried to push him off.

At least one person believes her — friend Ashley Elliott, who lives in the same apartment building.

Elliott claims that in spite of being falsely accused, Marybeth Rataic is “concerned about the child even after everything that went on” and “Emotionally, she’s torn apart.”

The victim, however, has a different version of events, telling police that Rataic, the mother of a 9-month-old, “continued to stay at the house overnight after the mother returned home and would sneak into the bedroom the boy shared with his brothers,” NBC reports.

The warrant claims Rataic would “spend the night in the boy’s bed and have intercourse with him while his brothers slept across the room.”

One of these alleged sexual encounters occurred “after Rataic had gone to Hartford to buy drugs,” the warrant notes.

In a separate report from the Record-Journal, Rataic is said to be facing 10 felony charges, including “three counts of first-degree sexual assault and seven counts of risk of injury to a minor.”

The R-J report says that the boy’s mother was friends with Rataic, and Rataic would babysit her four children on a regular basis.

“The boy was taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital, where a forensic interview was completed,” adds reporter Lauren Sievert. “The reported incidents happened between Aug. 19 and 23.”

Rataic was visited by a Department of Children and Families investigator and a police detective in September. Asked about the charges, she said she was “forced” and “didn’t tell anyone what happened because she was embarrassed.”

The state judicial website shows that Rataic has one prior conviction for disorderly conduct in 2010 in which she was given a one-year jail sentence that was suspended with a one-year conditional discharge.

Sievert notes that a public defender appointed to represent Rataic requested a mental health watch for possible psychological issues. Rataic has been ordered to have no contact with the child, and is scheduled to appear in New Haven Superior Court on November 25.

She is being held on a $150,000 bond.

What do you think should happen to Marybeth Rataic if these charges prove true? Sound off in our comments section.