Pascagoula woman gets prison for sexual battery of boy, age 13

A 26-year-old Pascagoula woman has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for the sexual battery of a 13-year-old boy.

Miranda Charlena Duke pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual battery Tuesday in Jackson County Circuit Court and received a prison term of 30 years.

Judge Kathy King suspended 18 years, ordering Duke to serve 12 years without early release and the remaining time on probation. King ordered five years of probation to involve routine reporting to a probation officer.

King also fined Duke $1,500, as well as ordering her to pay $1,000 to the Mississippi Children’s Trust Fund and $250 to the state Crime Victim’s Compensation Fund.

Duke also must register as a sex offender on her release from prison.

A grand jury indicted Duke in 2015, alleging Duke had illegal sexual contact with a boy three times in Pascagoula from Aug. 1, 2013, through Oct. 1, 2013.

“This defendant violated the trust this family placed in her when they allowed her to be around their child,” District Attorney Tony Lawrence said.

Assistant District Attorney Cherie Wade said Duke’s willingness to plead guilty spared the boy and his family from the trauma of testifying in court.

“Adults should protect children, not use them to satisfy their depraved sexual desires,” Wade said.

“This defendant had a warped sense of reality when she thought that she could engage in a mature sexual relationship with this 13-year- old victim. As an adult, she was responsible for controlling her behavior, but instead she chose to violate the law and sexually abuse this child.”

Prosecutors commended the Pascagoula Police Department for efforts to resolve the case.

Duke had remained free on bond until she was arrested on a series of auto burglary charges in D’Iberville and Biloxi. She was also identified as a suspect in a burglary in Jackson County.

The burglary charges came after a stolen iPad's location feature led detectives to a Pascagoula home where officials said they found several items from several auto burglaries. Duke was one of several people arrested.

The status of those cases were not immediately available.

This story was originally published July 19, 2016 at 4:44 PM with the headline "Pascagoula woman gets prison for sexual battery of boy, age 13."