Dartmouth Woman Gets 12 Years for Raping Pre-Teen

DARTMOUTH — A 30-year-old Dartmouth woman will serve up to 12 years in state prison after she was convicted last week of repeatedly raping a pre-teen girl.

Kayla Baumgardner pleaded guilty on Sept. 21 multiple counts of statutory rape and indecent assault and battery on a person under 14 as well as other charges, according to the Bristol County District Attorney's Office.

Baumgardner worked with the child’s mother as a certified nursing assistant.

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The victim initially began visiting Baumgardner to see the defendant’s dogs, the D.A.'s office said, but she began inviting the victim over more regularly.

Between September 2017 and August 2020, the defendant began abusing the young child with inappropriate touching that escalated to sexual assault.

According to the D.A.'s office, Baumgardner sexually assaulted the victim around 20 to 50 times.

She would often send the victim nude photos, convinced the victim to send her nude photos and shared pornography with the child.

The defendant even attempted to convince the victim that she was her real mother.

Along with three counts each of statutory rape and indecent assault and battery on a person under 14, Baumgardner also admitted to one count each of providing obscene material to a minor and unnatural acts of a child under the age of 16.

In a separate case, the victim’s sibling was also the victim of sexual abuse, the D.A.'s office said.

Baumgardner routinely accompanied the victim's mother to court in that case at the same time as she was regularly sexually assaulting her daughter.

Following her prison sentence, the defendant will spend seven years on supervised probation with numerous conditions including GPS monitoring.

“This is an egregious example of a breach of trust by the defendant against the victim and her family," said Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn.

"It is particularly galling that the defendant was feigning her support of the family in another ongoing sexual abuse prosecution while at the same time repeatedly sexually abusing the victim."

"To say the least, a substantial prison sentence was warranted,” he added.

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Filed Under: bristol county district attorney, Bristol County District Attorney's Office, Dartmouth, Kayla Baumgardner, thomas quinn

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