House help accused of sleeping with 10-year-old boy after his mother noticed he had a ‘love-bite’

Willimantic, USA: Marybeth Rataic, 25, of Willimantic, Connecticut is now facing 10 felony charges after suspicions arose when the child's mother noticed he had a love-bite on his neck.

The boy told his mother - who has three other children - that Rataic had sex with him on at least three occasions between August 19 and 23, NBC Connecticut reported.

One one occasion, mother-of-one Rataic is said to have had crept into the boy's bedroom, which he shared with his brothers, and had intercourse with him.

She allegedly had sex with the victim another time when his mother was in hospital giving birth.

According to the arrest warrant, the mother of the child filed a report with police on August 25.

The boy told his mother Rataic and he had sex on at least three occasions, the warrant says.

Rataic has denied sexually abusing the boy and claimed the 10-year-old forced himself on her when interviewed at her home by authorities.

She told the child to stop and tried pushing him off, she claimed.

The only reason why she didn't tell anyone was because she was "embarrassed," Rataic said, according to the Record-Journal.

A friend of both Rataic and the child's mother, speaking to NBC, said Rataic had been left "emotionally ... torn apart" over the allegations.

She said Rataic still cared about the boy "even after everything that went on."

Rataic is charged with three counts of first-degree sexual assault and seven counts of risk of injury to a minor/impairing the morals of children.

She appeared at Meriden Superior Court Tuesday.

Judge Philip Scarpellino kept the bond at $150,000 and a public defender appointed to represent Rataic requested a mental health watch for possible psychological issues.

Scarpellino ordered that Rataic have no contact with the child. She is scheduled to appear in New Haven Superior Court on November 25.