Dana Allen Pleads Guilty to Rape

Posted: Updated:

Dana Allen, the 38-year-old woman accused of having sex with a 14-year-old Wilson High School student, pleaded guilty Thursday morning in Lauderdale County Circuit Court.

Allen made headlines in January when she was arrested and accused of having a sexual relationship with the 14-year-old boy. At the time of her arrest, investigators said they believed she was having sex with at least six other students as well. In May, she pleaded not guilty due to mental disease or defect.

On Thursday, Allen agreed to a three year sentence in her plea deal. She will also be required to register as a sex offender.

"That's a big ticket item, obviously, because that's a life sentence," said Lauderdale District Attorney Chris Connolly. "That's a community notification, quarterly registration, there's restrictions about employment and about where she can live, so that's a huge part of this agreement."

Allen will be sentenced on July 26. The judge will decide whether she will serve time in prison, on probation or by a split sentence where she would serve a portion of her time in the local jail.

"We wanted to make sure that the victim and his family were on board with whatever settlement there was and they are," said Connolly. "They wanted to get this behind their family, because they're trying to get over this. There's also any number of people in the community that's been impacted by what she did."

Connolly said that at the sentencing, he will be requesting that all of her time be served in prison.

"The investigators did a good job on the case, because the question about whether she did it or not was not an issue," said Connolly. "I mean, she admitted to it. Not only to this victim but to others that happen to be 16 years old. I expect the facts that were stacked against her had a large impact on her willingness to enter in to this plea."