A 42-year-old Connecticut woman already facing numerous charges for alleged sexual assaults of an 11-year-old boy she chaperoned on dates with her relative was arrested for the third time in one month, this time after a mother reported Alyson Cranick had a Snapchat communication “streak” with her 13-year-old daughter.
Cranick, a married mother of two who allegedly committed the summer 2022 sexual assaults before the former paraprofessional was hired and fired from her administrative assistant job at E.O. Smith High School in Mansfield, was first arrested on Nov. 14. The charges were two counts of first-degree sexual assault and three counts of risk of injury to a child, all felonies. The next day, she was arrested for a second time, on two counts of first-degree sexual assault and two counts of risk of injury to a child.
Though Cranick’s parents reportedly bailed her out two weeks earlier under the court-ordered condition that she have “no unsupervised contact with minors,” the defendant was rearrested on Nov. 28 and taken to York CI, Connecticut Department of Correction records reviewed by Law&Crime show. Those records currently list Cranick’s total bond amount at $1,500,600.
The latest arrest stems from Cranick’s alleged Snapchat communication with a 13-year-old girl who was out Black Friday shopping on Nov. 24 with a 13-year-old relative of the defendant’s.
Connecticut State Police detailed in an arrest warrant application that the mother of the 13-year-old girl reported Cranick had been communicating with her daughter to the point that there was Snapstreak going between her daughter’s account and one belonging to “Alyson.”
Alyson Cranick pictured in two different Connecticut State Police mug shots, the second from Nov. 28.
Cops said that when they interviewed the girl she said she had “unfriended” Cranick on Snapchat but “refriended” the defendant so that Cranick’s minor relative, who noticed the unfriending while out shopping on Black Friday, wouldn’t feel bad.
Cranick, for her part, said during an interview about the Snapchat contact with a minor that she believed she was communicating with her relative “because she saw a picture of [her relative’s] face in the Snapchat,” according to police.
The rearrest complicates an already serious case against Cranick that also involves Snapchat communications.
State police said they learned on Sept. 7 that Cranick, “often flirtatious and sexual in nature” when she messaged the 11-year-old, communicated with the victim on Snapchat, iMessage, and Discord, and met on at least 14 occasions after the boy sneaked out of his house late at night. Cops said she even bought the “always tired” energy drinks and soda to “help him stay awake.”
“Cranick also sent [the boy] a picture of a letter beaded bracelet she made for him with the acronym ‘BFFFLWB,”” the warrant added. “[The boy] later explained that Cranick told him ‘BFFFLWB’ meant ‘Best Friends for Life With Benefits.’ In the Discord messages, Cranick told [the boy] not to tell anybody it was about her and if somebody asked, tell them it meant ‘Best Friends Forever for Life We’re Better.’”
When questioned by police about the sexual assault allegations, Cranick “downplayed any inappropriate reasoning for communicating” with the victim, according to the warrant. She allegedly said she never intended the messages to be “flirtatious and sexual in nature,” explaining she was “a really nice person.”
Law&Crime reached out to Cranick’s attorney Trent LaLima for comment on his client’s rearrest. In court, LaLima has maintained his client’s “innocence.”
Watch the Law&Crime Network’s Crime Fix for more on the case:
Colin Kalmbacher contributed to this report.
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