The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

October 27, 2009

UPDATE: Woman blames drugs for sex with boy

By Matt Snyder

PINE TOWNSHIP — A former Pine Township woman facing felony charges for having sex with a boy while he was 14 and she was 32 blamed her actions on judgment clouded by taking multiple anti-anxiety medications.

Tammy Lynn Woodley, 33, of 228 Park St., Grove City, told Common Pleas Judge John C. Reed that a Grove City psychiatrist had prescribed her four separate anti-anxiety medications and two anti-depressants, all of which she was to take daily.

“So, essentially the main responsibility for this is the medication, not you?” asked a somewhat incredulous Miles K. Karson Jr., assistant district attorney.

“Essentially, yes,” Woodley replied. She said she does not think she ever would have slept with the boy or been involved in other petty criminal cases if not for the meds. “My mind was not clear,” she said.

Defense attorney Veronica Smith said prior to Mrs. Woodley’s alleged over-medication, she had no prior record. She led a normal life as a wife, mother, and worker.

Reed sentenced Ms. Woodley to 6 to 12 months, just under the standard range for statutory sexual assault and unlawful contact with a minor. She will be paroled after six months, he said, if she behaves herself in Mercer County Jail.

Mrs. Woodley will also be on probation for 16 years and must register as a Megan’s Law sex offender.

According to police, Mrs. Woodley and the boy, who is now 15, knew each other through a relative. She started picking him up after school in September of 2008, and went for rides or walks in the park. Her husband once said the two acted like “two teenagers in love.”

Mrs. Woodley said things got out of hand Oct. 27, 2008, and she had sex with the boy against her better judgment.

“After it was all done, remorse set in and I realized what had just happened. After that I took him home,” she said.

The boy’s father told police the next day that Mrs. Woodley had seduced his son. Both parents attended Mrs. Woodley’s sentencing. They did not speak, but Karson said they wanted to show their continued desire for a prosecution.

The boy told police he and Mrs. Woodley kissed and talked about getting serious, but both acknowledged their age difference.

After charges were filed, Mrs. Woodley sent a letter to the boy while he was on the school bus through her 8-year-old son. Charges of intimidating witnesses and corruption of minors were dropped in that case as part of her plea.

Mrs. Woodley said she had sent the letter because she wanted to know how he was doing. She said she’d sent him letters through her son in the past.

As part of her probation, Mrs. Woodley will not be allowed contact with underage children besides her own, unless a responsible adult is present to supervise.

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