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February 05, 2006
Psychologist charged in teen's rape
A Mattituck woman who was arrested last fall after she allegedly secretly visited her teenage neighbor at his new home in North Carolina is now facing a criminal charge in Suffolk: that she allegedly had sex with the boy before he left town, Southold police said.
Diane DeMartini-Scully, 45, a school psychologist employed by the East Hampton school district, has been charged with third-degree rape and third-degree criminal sexual act. She had a sexual relationship with the boy, whose name is being withheld because of his age, said Southold Det. Steven Harned.
Southold police believe DeMartini-Scully had sexual intercourse and oral sex with the boy on a number of occasions last May in her Mattituck home and in her car, Harned said.
A month later, last June, the boy's family moved to Jacksonville, N.C., to escape Long Island's high cost of living, the boy's mother told Newsday.
In the fall, the boy's mother told North Carolina detectives the psychologist secretly visited her two children in their new town and gave them alcohol and marijuana.
The mother also said she discovered the alleged sexual relationship, but the boy had turned 16, which made him an adult in North Carolina.
DeMartini-Scully was arrested there on charges that included kidnapping and contributing to the delinquency of minors.
Following that arrest, an inquiry by the East Hampton school district prompted Southold police to interview the boy about what may have happened while he was living in Suffolk County, Harned said.
"We had to take a look at him," Harned said. "We didn't want it to come back and haunt us."
A four-month Southold investigation led to the new charges.
Harned said he believed the sexual relationship was isolated to the one boy.
"He's the only one we're looking into," Harned said.
He also said 15-year-olds do not have the legal right to consent to sex in New York.
DeMartini-Scully is expected to be arraigned on the new charges today in Southold Justice Court.
Reached yesterday at his home, DeMartini-Scully's husband said he did not have enough information to make a comment.
Posted by Nealus at February 5, 2006 06:51 AM
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