A Swissvale woman accused of maintaining a yearslong sexual relationship with a boy starting when he was 14 was arrested Friday, police said.
Rachel Witkowski, 42, faces five counts of indecent assault, two counts each of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and corruption of minors, and one count each of statutory sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor, endangering the welfare of a child, false reports of child abuse and criminal use of a communication facility, court records show.
Seven of the charges are felonies.
Witkowski was arraigned Friday morning in a Forest Hills district court. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept 13.
Attorney Amy Beth Jones, who represents Witkowski, could not be reached Friday for comment. Allegheny County Police Assistant Superintendent Victor Joseph declined to comment.
The victim, now 17, told police he and Witkowski had their first sexual interaction in 2019 and they began having intercourse regularly, often multiple times a week, starting in March 2020, according to a criminal complaint filed in the case. The encounters ended in November 2022 when the boy got a girlfriend, the complaint said.
Witkowski responded angrily to the alleged victim getting a girlfriend and threatened him to try to stop him from going to law enforcement, the complaint said.
After the alleged victim reported the sexual abuse to his school principal and a child-abuse referral system, Witkowski told a therapist that the boy forced her to have sex with him at knifepoint, the complaint said.
