SKOWHEGAN — A 29-year-old Skowhegan woman is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday on two felony charges involving an alleged sexual assault on a 14-year-old boy.

Jessica Lynn Wells was arrested Monday on charges of gross sexual assault, a class B felony; and sexual abuse of a minor, a class C felony, according to court records. She remained confined Tuesday at the Somerset County Jail in East Madison pending her initial appearance in court, when she will be assigned a court-appointed attorney for the day.

The charges allege sexual assault and sexual abuse of a boy for whose long-term care Wells was partly responsible. The crimes are alleged to have taken place July 13 in Skowhegan, according to court records.

Police were first alerted to the alleged assault on July 29 and investigated. The boy’s mother reportedly received a text message from him and alerted authorities.

A caseworker with the state Department of Health and Human Services conducted interviews in Skowhegan, according to court documents. A police officer sat in on the DHHS interviews, which were audio recorded, and in which Wells admitted the assaults, police said.

Wells reportedly said she was the adult and should have said no to contact with the boy. There also allegedly were other text messages, which police said Wells asked the boy to delete, saying otherwise she would go to jail.

Conviction of a class B felony is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. A class C felony conviction is punishable by up to five years in prison.

When bail is set, Wells is ordered not to have contact with anyone under the age of 18 and is ordered not to use any device that connects to the internet or any cellular device. She also will have a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew.

Doug Harlow — 612-2367

dharlow@centralmaine.com

Twitter:@Doug_Harlow

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