32-year-old HIV-positive Cincinnati woman, Candance Morris
who pleaded to four counts of unlawful s*xual contact with two minors
will only serve one year in prison, the Cincinnati Inquirer reports.
Candance Morris faced more than 30 years behind bars, when she stood
before Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Melba Marsh Monday.
The actions that lead up to Morris’s conviction still shock the other
moms in the East Price Hill neighborhood with whom she lived and
socialized regularly. When the mothers in the neighborhood needed
someone to watch their boys, Morris often volunteered.
But on New Year’s Eve, Morris, a mother herself, slept with two teens
of two mothers she knew very well. “We were going to church and she
knew that and she blew my phone up (asking) to bring my baby over,” the
mother said. It was big mistake.
Morris spent the day smoking marijuana, drinking a half-gallon of
vodka as well as beer and champagne. She ended up getting in bed with
two boys, having s*x with them at the same time. The s*x romp was kept
secret until Morris got into a fight with one of the boy’s mothers and
shouted–in a profane matter–that she had bedded her son.
During her sentencing, she expressed regret for her behavior. “I
apologize for the pain that I caused and I know my actions were
irresponsible,” Morris told the judge, blaming “my bad habits” for the
incident. “I would never have done it intentionally.”
Morris could have served 30 years in prison for her actions, but her
guilty plea reduced her sentence significantly. She also told the judge
that the boys took advantage of her sexually while she was passed out.
The teens have been tested for HIV and results have returned negative so
far. They are tested every six months and will have to be for some
time.
One of the mother’s said Morris’s actions hurt her dearly. “I cared
for her. I cared for her son,” said the mother of one of the
14-year-olds Morris abused. “I feel like she planned and plotted. I feel
betrayed.”
Morris will have to register as a child s*x offender for 25 years
when she is released from prison. She has already given up custody of
her child.