Mass. Level 3 sex offender who kidnapped 14-year-old sentenced to prison | #childpredator | #kidsaftey | #childsaftey

A Level 3 sex offender who was convicted of kidnapping a 14-year-old boy at gunpoint and assaulting him has been sentenced to prison.

Dorchester woman Charlese Horton, 47, was sentenced on Friday to 25-35 years in prison, followed by five years of probation.

Back in 2000, Horton pleaded guilty to sexual assault and kidnapping of a child under the age of 14. Horton registered as a Level 3 sex offender following that conviction.

Now this week, she was convicted on several charges. That included two counts of aggravated kidnapping, one count of indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or over, two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, one count of threats, and numerous gun charges.

“I want the court to understand that this person took more than time away from me,” the victim, who’s now 20, wrote in his impact statement. “They took my potential, my confidence and my joy. They robbed me of my teenage years and I can never get them back.”

Judge Debra Squires-Lee commended the victim for testifying in court, calling him “brave” and telling him that he will “find (your) way forward because I saw that bravery.”

Horton kidnapped the victim at gunpoint in an alley in Dorchester back on Oct. 25, 2019. Horton threatened the victim, saying he owed her money.

She made him get on his knees, blindfolded him, and inserted a hard penile shaped object into his mouth. After the blindfold was removed, the victim was eventually able to flee.

Horton kidnapped the victim again, also at gunpoint, on Feb. 7, 2020, at a party on Geneva Avenue in Dorchester. When the victim left the party, he saw Horton in a car and she called out to him.

He began to run, but Horton pulled a gun and forced him to get into the back seat of the car. They drove around and then picked up the victim’s younger sister and cousin. They were eventually able to leave the car.

The victim described the kidnapper as wearing a distinctive hat with a marijuana leaf on the front in both kidnapping incidents, among other identifying details.

During a police interview, Horton was shown surveillance images of a person wearing a marijuana-leaf hat and clothing matching the description provided by the victim. Horton admitted that she was the person in the photographs.

Police later found the clothing seen in the images inside her apartment. Horton also told officers she had two guns stored in a closet in her apartment. The victim had previously described the firearms used during the kidnappings, and the guns recovered from Horton’s residence matched that description.