A now-former Connecticut public school employee faces criminal charges over an alleged sexual relationship with an 11-year-old boy.
Alyson Cranick, 42, stands accused of two counts of sexual assault and three counts of risk of injury to a child, authorities say.
And more charges are likely coming.
According to the Connecticut State Police, Cranick turned herself in on Tuesday. She was arrested again on Wednesday — while still being detained. The first arrest warrant was issued for conduct that allegedly occurred in the summer of 2022, Law&Crime has learned.
The defendant is alleged to have “been in a sexual relationship” with the boy, who was 11 at the time, during July and August 2022, according to the arrest warrant obtained by Law&Crime.
Content warning: child sexual abuse.
On Sept. 7, state police were told about an illicit relationship between the boy and the since-fired paraprofessional by a relative of the alleged victim, the arrest warrant says. A forensic interview was conducted with the child a few days later. During that interview, the boy said he had been “sexually assaulted” by Cranick. He later said that “she forced me to” have vaginal sex, the warrant claims.
The boy and Cranick first communicated through iMessage and Snapchat — and later moved their conversations to Discord after the defendant learned that one of the boy’s family members monitored his use of the first two applications but not the third, according to the warrant.
During the forensic interview, the child described, in detail, several incidents in which he and the defendant allegedly had sex. These alleged encounters occurred, the boy said, early in the morning, and he frequently sneaked out of his house at around 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. to meet with Cranick. Often, the boy told investigators the two had sex in her car.
Eventually, according to the boy, the routine caught up with him, and he was “always tired,” according to the warrant.
“Cranick then purchased him caffeinated drinks (energy drinks and soda) to help him stay awake,” the warrant reads. “[The boy] explained that Cranick always volunteered to chaperone.”
Alyson Cranick appears in a booking photo. (Connecticut State Police)
Police claim to have reviewed screenshots of nearly 400 Discord messages that corroborated the boy’s allegations.
Overall, the pair met up on at least 14 occasions after the boy sneaked out of his house late at night, the warrant alleges. According to police, the educator was “often flirtatious and sexual in nature” when she messaged the boy and “suggested he shower with her.”
“Cranick also sent [the boy] a picture of a letter beaded bracelet she made for him with the acronym ‘BFFFLWB,” the warrant reads. “[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.””
Investigators also claim the messages showed several incidents in which the defendant attempted to “emotionally manipulate” the boy into spending time with her when he did not want to — by asking him to ask his family to let her take him fishing and to allow him to use Snapchat again.
State police interviewed Cranick on the same day as the boy’s forensic interview. The defendant allegedly “downplayed any inappropriate reasoning for communicating” with the child — allegedly saying she simply wanted “to comfort him because he is scared,” according to the warrant. As for the seemingly flirtatious nature of their messages, Cranick allegedly replied that was not her intent and that she was just “a really nice person.”
The heavily redacted warrant obtained by Law&Crime does not say how Cranick and the boy came to know one another in the first place. He does not appear to have been one of her students.
The educator worked at a high school at the time of the alleged incidents and was fired amid an investigation by the Nutmeg State’s Department of Children and Families.
“The employee was hired in February of 2023 with procedural DCF background check, fingerprinting and reference checks presenting no information of concern that would indicate the individual should not be hired,” E.O. Smith High School principal Louis DeLoreto said in a statement provided to CT Insider. “When we were notified of the outcome of the DCF investigation, the individual ceased employment with Regional School District 19.”
A spokesperson for the state police told Law&Crime they could not yet provide information related to her second arrest except to say that it was due to a warrant issued by the New London Superior Court.
The defendant had her initial appearance on the same day she was initially arrested. She was assessed $500,000 bond.
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