Tennessee mother accused of luring 9 teen boys for sex
A Tennessee mother is charged with being a rather prolific sexual abuser of teenage boys. A grand jury in McMinn County, Tennessee, indicted Melissa A. Blair, 38, for charges including aggravated statutory rape, according to Sheriff Joe Guy.
She allegedly contacted nine teenage boys on social media and offered them items in exchange for what officials described as “sexual encounters.” Guy voiced concern there could be more victims.
“The current charges are related to 9 confirmed male juvenile victims, related to incidents which occurred from Spring of 2020 through late 2021,” Guy said. “7 of the victims are still juveniles. 2 were victimized as juveniles but are now adults. We suspect there may be additional juvenile victims and we encourage them or their parents to contact us. There may possibly be other victims who are now adults, and we also encourage them to contact us. It appears that Ms. Blair was communicating with the juveniles on social media, arranging meetings with them, and trading items for sexual encounters with them.”
A mother of one of the boys said that according to her son, Blair offered items including vape pens.
“People focus mostly on the perpetrator,” she told WSYR. ‘They don’t realize how it devastates a family. How the families are at home, and we don’t know what to do next. I have no idea how to go forward with this.”
Investigators say Melissa Blair, 38, traded items for sexual encounters with male students who attend McMinn Central High School. She even had one of her own kids enrolled in the district; that child is now transferred.
“They’re still asking for more victims to come forward,” Bo Williams, an anchor for NewsNation affiliate WATE in Knoxville, said on “Dan Abrams Live.”
McMinn County Director of Schools Lee Parkison said the investigation began after an anonymous letter was left in his office.
“Without them, this could still be going on,” Parkison said, thanking whomever wrote the letter.
Parkinson said Blair was not employed by the school but was involved with school clubs, “… like other parents are.”
The encounters happened from spring 2020 through late 2021, officials allege. Sheriff Joe Guy said two of the students have since become adults.
“The superintendent, noting that in this day and age of social media … was somewhat shocked that we didn’t have any red flags leading up to this, any type of alerts,” Williams said.
Blair is charged with 18 counts of aggravated statutory rape, four counts of human trafficking by patronizing prostitution and one count of solicitation. Her indictment showed a vehicle had been confiscated.
When asked about the reaction from the community, Williams said “they’re just in some disbelief right now.”
Blair is currently free on $100,000 bail. Her arraignment is scheduled for Feb. 28.
The county school system has banned her from school property and activities.
The Associated Press and NewsNation affiliate WATE contributed to this report.
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