Farrell man pleads guilty to sex assualt on girl

SHARON — A 22-year-old Farrell man pleaded guilty to felony aggravated indecent assault for picking up his 13-year-old girlfriend and having sex with her in his car.

Charges of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault, indecent assault and corruption of minors were dropped against Ryan Mapleton, 1504 Roemer Blvd., in exchange for his plea. He will also be registered as a sex offender for life, according to court documents.

Police said Mapleton sent a text message to the girl’s cell phone and told her to sneak out of her grandparents’ house where she was staying last Jan. 20. She met him at Musser Elementary School’s parking lot.

They drove around for a while and eventually had sex along an isolated road. He then gave her a cigarette, police said.

Mapleton admitted to police Jan. 31 that he had sex with the girl. The girl told police he did not force her or threaten her, and police said she referred to him as her “boyfriend.”

Mapleton’s father told police his son suffers from a mental disability that prevents him from understanding everything. He said his son saw the act as just sex with a girlfriend, not sex with an underage girl.

Police await autopsy on woman found dead

FREDONIA — A Delaware Township woman was found dead in her vehicle at about 6 a.m. Dec. 29 in a driveway on Grant Street, Fredonia.

No foul play is suspected in the death of Tammy B. McQuay, 51, police said. The cause is thought to be a combination of alcohol, drugs and carbon monoxide, police said.

The official cause is pending an autopsy expected to take four to six weeks, said Deputy Mercer County Coroner John Libonati.

The woman was not related to the homeowners whose driveway she died in, Libonati said.