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Nancy Grace
Idaho Mom Busted for Sex With Teens
Aired December 12, 2012 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight, live, Idaho. A young mother of two busted when cops tipped off Mommy having wild sex romps with five of her little boy`s friends. Cops say Mommy invites the boys to the family`s suburban home, gets them tipsy on booze, then seduces the boys. Mommy`s little 5-year-old girl even tries to get into Mommy`s bedroom during one of the sex romps, begging for Mommy. The girl gets ignored. I wonder why.
Bombshell tonight. At this hour, police confirming multiple underage sex incidents at the home. Oh, Mommy!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An Idaho mother faces charges after cops say she gave alcohol to and had sex with four boys under the age of 16. Police arrested 35-year-old Courtney Sue Reschke after they say she gave alcohol and engaged in sex with several of her child`s underage friends at her home. Prosecutors reportedly state two of Reschke`s children were in the home during at least one incident. In fact, reports say police allege Reschke`s 5-year-old was attempting to get into the mom`s bedroom to get her attention during one of these sexual encounters, and Reschke ignored her child.
Reschke faces charges including child sex abuse and felony lewd conduct with a child. And cops reportedly say there could be more victims.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight. A young mother of two busted when cops are tipped off Mommy`s having wild sex romps with five of her little boy`s friends. At this hour, police confirm there were multiple underage sex incidents in the family`s suburban home. Oh, Mommy!
MO -- modus operandi, method of operation -- meet your little boy`s friends. You befriend them, then invite them over, get them drunk on booze that belongs to, who, your husband, then have sex with the little boys while your 5-year-old girl is in the bedroom.
OK, Dan O`Donnell, out to you, anchor and reporter with WTMJ, what happened?
DAN O`DONNELL, WTMJ (via telephone): Well, as far as we know, Nancy, this started at about the beginning of this school year, late August, early September. As you said, Courtney Reschke would befriend her 10-year-old son`s friends, about 15 years old, as we know. A fifth victim now has been identified by sheriff`s deputies.
She would ply them with alcohol and have sex with them, according to investigators. And she`s now been arrested. As of November 30th, we know of multiple occasions, and on at least one, as you said, her two children were at the home.
GRACE: Her son is 10 years old? Is that what you said, Dan O`Donnell?
O`DONNELL: Yes. She has a 10-year-old son and a 5-year-old daughter and an older daughter who`s 14, 15, somewhere in there.
GRACE: So she`s got three children. Mike Sharp (ph), news director of KINF, add in.
MIKE SHARP, KINF (via telephone): You know, just adding onto what he just said, it seems -- conflicting reports. It looks like she more than likely met the victims through her 15-year-old daughter, and the 10-year- old son and 5-year-old daughter were there at the home when the incidents occurred.
GRACE: Well, according to police, they are saying she made friends with her 10-year-old son`s. But Mike Sharp, you`re the news director, you know, you say tomato, I say tomahto. Do I really care where she met them? They`re under age. She`s the mother of three. She boozes them up. She has sex with them. Boom! Do I care where they came from? Does that have something to do with the facts that I`m missing, Mike Sharp?
SHARP: No, no. In fact, I think the big question that`s going to come out is going to be exactly how these events occurred and what`s going to end up happening with this family.
GRACE: OK. What hearing is that going to be, Mike?
SHARP: They`re having a preliminary hearing where they`re going to obviously discuss the evidence they have and how this got brought to light in the first place.
GRACE: Oh, you`re going to have to clear the courtroom for that hearing!
We are taking your calls. First I want to go out to Marc Klaas, president and founder of Klaas Kids Foundation. Marc, a lot of people view cases like this, when the perpetrator is a woman, as, like, some young kid`s dream, some boy`s dream come true. That is not so.
MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: No. This is a female Jerry Sandusky, and we saw how America responded to Sandusky. He took young men and he committed perverted acts on them.
This woman is taking young boys and taking them from normal sexual routines of a child their age and accelerating them into adulthood. And I think that the damage that she`s causing by these criminal activities could ultimately be very severe for these kids in the future. And I think that she needs to be treated appropriately. And I think that we have to understand...
GRACE: You know what, Marc? You were saying something -- I wanted to add in, as you complete your analysis, some of these little boys thought they were, quote, "having fun." But here`s the reality. How many times have you -- I know it`s happened to me -- been in a discussion talking about -- there`s, like, one in four people are sexually assaulted or molested in some way under age. It could be inappropriate touching. It could be outright rape. It could be a number of things between the two.
And so many people don`t report it. Yet in their adulthood, they look back on it and they`re stunned. They`re shocked. They wish it had not happened. Whereas at the time, as a child, you process it so much differently. You just go with it because you don`t know any better. These little boys don`t know any better!
KLAAS: No, that`s absolutely true. And it informs your responses when you get older, as well. And perhaps you then are not responding to normal situations in a way that you would, had these crimes not occurred. So it can very adversely affect these kids. There`s no question about that at all.
GRACE: OK, Dan O`Donnell, anchor/reporter with WTMJ, take it from the top. Lay the whole thing out for me.
O`DONNELL: Well, as I said, these children would come to the home of Ms. Reschke. She apparently was plying them with alcohol. This happened for about a two, possibly three-month period. Investigators believe it started at the beginning of the school year.
And she would apparently have illegal sexual encounters with them. In at least one case we know, her 5-year-old daughter was knocking on the door of the bedroom, and Ms. Reschke tried her best to ignore her. On at least one of those occasions, the 10-year-old son also in this house.
GRACE: OK, Ellie Jostad, correct me here if I`m wrong. Do I understand that the 5-year-old little girl came into Mommy`s bedroom begging for Mommy, for whatever reason, and Mommy`s, like, Go away, I`m too busy having sex with a minor.
ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (via telephone): Yes, that`s right, Nancy. And we just talked to the sheriff`s department, and they confirm that the girl did actually walk into the room while this was going on.
And Nancy, they also told us that they found out about these allegations on a Friday morning. They didn`t even have enough time to find out all the information about the alleged incidents, but knew enough to claim that she was a threat to children, and that`s why she was arrested, in jail by Friday evening.
GRACE: How many victims do we know of at this hour, Ellie?
JOSTAD: Well, we just found out they now believe fifth victim. They can confirm five underage male victims.
GRACE: Out to the lines. Corylee in Montana. Hi, dear. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: First of all, I`d like to say you`re a great inspiration, Nancy, and I love your twins.
GRACE: Thank you. Thank you so much.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am a child of abuse. I had one child, a boy, and adopted four boys. And my heart goes out -- excuse me -- to these children because it isn`t just going to be one session fix it al. These kids are going to live with this for the rest of their lives.
And this woman should be punished just like Jerry Sandusky or whoever. There should be not -- no, well, she`s a woman and we should take it easy on her. These boys will have to live with this for life, and I think that she should have to pay for their therapist, their mental health for the rest of their life because she pretty much messed them up for the rest of their life. And that little girl, too -- she should be nowhere around her mother.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police say Idaho mom Courtney Sue Reschke was getting a little too close to her child`s teenage friends. She was allegedly having sex with them. Reschke, 35, faces felony charges after cops allege she gave alcohol to and had sex with at least four teen boys, all under the age of 16.
Cops say the encounters began at the start of the school year after Reschke met the teens through her child. During one alleged sexual assault, authorities reportedly claim Reschke`s young child came into her bedroom while she was having sex with one of the teens, and the mother ignored her child and continued to have sex. Cops say the investigation is ongoing and they`re looking to see if there are more victims.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: There`s no room in our world for a double standard. There is no room for one child molester to be treated differently than another child molester.
We are taking your calls. This young mom of three busted, meeting friends, apparently, through her 10-year-old little boy, then having sex with a string of his little friends. Tonight, confirming five suspected victims of this suburban mom. MO, getting the little boys to the home, boozing them up on alcohol, and taking them into the bedroom of their own home and having sex.
We`re taking your calls. Celestine -- oh, I still have Corylee in Montana. Corylee, I couldn`t agree with you more. What`s your question, dear?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My question is, is how do they base on what -- how they`re going to charge her? I mean, because these children -- you know, in certain states, you know, you`re able to have sex at an age where it isn`t...
GRACE: Right. In other words, is there consent in these cases? I got it. I`m going to ask that question right now, Corylee, to Ellie Jostad. Ellie, what`s the statute in this jurisdiction?
JOSTAD: Nancy, the statute -- I guess you mean the age of consent there in Idaho.
GRACE: Yes.
JOSTAD: Yes, that`s 18. But Nancy, the statute here is very clear. This is a life felony for having sexual contact with someone under 16 for your own sexual gratification. That is a very serious felony there in Idaho. It doesn`t matter. There is no consent.
GRACE: OK. Break it down a little more one more time, Ellie, because my next two callers I think want to know the same thing, the age of consent. And you`re saying?
JOSTAD: I`m saying that in Idaho, the statute says that genital contact for sexual gratification by an adult with someone that is under 16 is a felony punishable up to life in prison. So you know, it doesn`t matter if there`s any sort of consent. There can be no consent with a child that`s under 16, by the Idaho statute.
GRACE: And in this case, all the little boys were under 16.
JOSTAD: As far as we know. We don`t know the details yet on this fifth victim, but we know that the four involved previously are under 15 -- or under 16, rather.
GRACE: To Celestine in Texas. Hi, Celestine. What`s your question, dear?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My question is -- my question is, if she`d have done this before without getting caught. How many other victims is it?
GRACE: Oh, you know what? Tell it!
To Elizabeth Beach, assistant DA in Tarrant County, Texas, who prosecuted Brittni Colleps. Elizabeth, there are statistics on this, and I recall one, for instance, on DUI. For every time you`re caught, you`ve driven, I think, about 80 times drunk.
Every time I ever prosecuted a child molestation case, I would almost always either before or after trial find similar transactions. That would not have been the first time that person had molested a child.
ELIZABETH BEACH, ASST. DA, TARRANT COUNTY, TX: That`s absolutely true, Nancy. In almost every case, a person who is a child molester, a person who preys on children, a pedophile, they don`t stop at one and they don`t stop at two. They go on and on and on, as in this case, where we know of five right now. As the investigation goes on, it`s likely that more victims are going to surface. That`s the typical type of child molester.
GRACE: And Elizabeth Beach, you`re so right because as we were prepping for tonight, we get word there`s probably -- there`s an alleged fifth victim. I mean, I don`t know what`s going to happen by the time the show`s over. We could find out about another victim.
Now, you just finished prosecuting another mother, Brittni Colleps, and she was also a school teacher, having sex with students that she taught. Now my question is, is there a leaning amongst jurors and others they don`t want to send female child molesters to jail?
BEACH: I think that is a problem, and the way I handled it was I talked about it during jury selection because the defendant was sitting at the counsel table, and obviously, she was a young female. And so I talked to the prospective jurors ahead of time and just put it to them, like you just said. Do you have a double standard? Do you think women should be able to commit sex crimes and get away with it?
And all the jurors that were seated had to make the commitment that they did not have a double standard and that they would hold a female to the same law that they held a male to.
GRACE: All right, I know that`s not exactly music to your ears, Joey Jackson, New York, Darryl Cohen, Atlanta, two defense attorneys. How are you going to handle a case like this, Cohen?
DARRYL COHEN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, it`s very simple. Everybody keeps talking about Sandusky. This is not the same as Sandusky. That went over for a period of years. This went over, as we understand it, for a period of months.
GRACE: Put him up, please.
COHEN: And these young...
GRACE: Does that matter?
COHEN: And these young males...
GRACE: Do I care?
COHEN: Yes, Nancy, you should care because these young men don`t see themselves as victims. Yes, according to the law, they are...
GRACE: Wa-wait! Wa-wait!
COHEN: ... but it`s not the same as-
GRACE: Pause! Pause!
COHEN: Nancy, no, I`m not going to stop!
GRACE: Give me the remote control!
COHEN: No, well, Nancy, it`s...
GRACE: Because you just started with...
COHEN: ... different...
GRACE: No. You just started with, it`s different than Sandusky because that happened over years and this happened over months. And when I question you about the relevance of that, you go, yes, yes, yes, it`s relevant because these boys don`t see themselves as victims. OK, those two thoughts are non sequiturs. They don`t fit together.
Now, you explain to me why it`s different that Sandusky raped little boys over a period of years, while this woman raped little boys over a period of months. What difference does that make in a guilty verdict?
COHEN: These weren`t little boys, Nancy. These were adults-
GRACE: You`re not going to answer.
COHEN: ... in body.
GRACE: You`re not going to answer, are you.
COHEN: I`m answering it because I`m answering it the way it should be answered. The fact is, these were 15-year-old boys, but they were adolescents and they were physically able to do what they wanted to do. And Nancy, there is not a double standard. But the reality is that young men this age look forward to having sex with someone older, whether we like it or not.
Yes, she broke the law, but is it the same as molesting a 7 or 5 or 6- year-old child? Absolutely not. And the reality is...
GRACE: Second verse...
COHEN: ... they`re doing fine.
GRACE: ... same as the first. Didn`t we just talk about this, Elizabeth Beach? Marc Klaas...
BEACH: Yes, we did.
GRACE: ... didn`t we? And I`d like to point out that Darryl Cohen never explained his first outburst, his legal outburst that this is not as bad because it happened over a period of months versus over a period of years, OK? We`re not idiots, Darryl. We can hear, all right?
But back to what turns out to be his defense is they enjoyed it. That`s his defense. Elizabeth?
BEACH: Well, obviously, that is not a defense. The reason we even have such a law is to protect teenagers. A 15-year-old is not an adult. He just stated that`s an adult. Legally, it`s not. So we have to have laws like this to protect teenagers who can`t make decisions like this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Sherline, Alabama. Hi, Sherline. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Actually, I have more of a statement.
GRACE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think just sitting here looking at her picture, first of all, she looks so much like Casey Anthony, and that makes me sick. I think this lady`s disgusting. I think she should be held fully responsible for what she`s done. She knew what she was doing was wrong.
If it was my child and I found out about it, I`d probably get a deal (ph). I think she should be locked up forever, absolutely no contact with her children. I think she should have all her parental rights completely stripped away from her, like she never even gave birth to those children. I mean, what she did was wrong. And these five boys that you have found out about so far, I don`t think this is the first time she`s done it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An Idaho mother faces charges after cops say she gave alcohol to and had sex with four boys under the age of 16. Police arrested 35-year-old Courtney Sue Reschke after they say she gave alcohol and engaged in sex with several of her child`s underage friends at her home.
Prosecutors reportedly state two of Reschke`s were in her home during at last one incident. In fact, reports say police allege Reschke`s 5-year- old was attempting to get into the mom`s bedroom to get her attention during one of these sexual encounters, and Reschke ignored her child. Reschke faces charges including child sex abuse and felony lewd conduct with a child. And cops reportedly say there could be more victims.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Absolutely incredible. This young mom of three now accused of meeting boys, little boys, through her 10-year-old son, luring them to their suburban family home, getting them all tipsy on booze, and then seducing them in her own bedroom. Even one night, when -- Mommy! -- her 5- year-old comes to the door, and she shoos the kid away, too busy, too intent on having underage sex, sex with a minor there in the home.
To Ellie Jostad. Ellie, what can you tell me -- I want to follow up on Sherline in Alabama`s comment regarding parental rights. Where are her three children?
JOSTAD: Right, Nancy. We believe that her children are actually in the custody of social services right now. From court records, it looks like that her husband -- now, she is divorced. She has been for about three years. Her husband apparently tried to file a motion to get custody. That looks like that has been denied. So we`re not sure where the kids are. They could be with relatives, but they are under the aegis of the social services department.
GRACE: Wow. OK, that`s extremely unusual for the -- Elizabeth Beach, for the -- let`s get all the lawyers, Darryl Cohen, Joey Jackson and Elizabeth Beach joining me out of Dallas.
Elizabeth, the father in this case files for sole custody. The court documents say that request was denied. So now all the children are taken away from this mother, who`s having underage sex with the little boy`s friends, and they`re with child -- the state care? That`s not good.
BEACH: No, not good at all. It`s much preferable to be with a parent. But it sounds like the judge deemed that the father was not fit to have the children, either. So you`re right, that`s a terrible situation.
GRACE: Oh, man! What a mess! What a mess! All right, Joey Jackson --
BEACH: A terrible mess.
GRACE: Yes, I didn`t go to you after hearing Darryl Cohen`s -- you know, Darryl, you`re a great lawyer. I expected a little bit more from you than, They enjoyed it.
What`s your defense, Joey Jackson?
JOEY JACKSON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, this is what happens here. Punishment and deterrence are a very important part of our system. I get that. But so is rehabilitation. The fact is, is that she`s not going to be in jail the rest of her life. She`s going to be out among society, and therefore, she needs the help, the treatment, the assistance that she needs to be productive.
Furthermore, because she engaged in this type of behavior doesn`t necessarily mean that the children were being abused, the children are -- she`s not unfit...
GRACE: Put him up, please!
JACKSON: ... to care for them, and she may very well be a loving and kind and sweet mother. And I think it`s very traumatic for the children to be removed from the home.
GRACE: OK, you`re mixing a lot of apples and oranges together to get a turkey dinner there, OK? It`s not really meshing in my mind because...
JACKSON: Well, let me show you how...
GRACE: ... you seem to be saying...
JACKSON: ... it meshes.
GRACE: As I was saying, you seem to be saying that she`s going to be in society eventually, that she is a loving mother and the children are worse off because they`re in state care. All right, those are several different legal arguments, number one.
JACKSON: Yes.
GRACE: Of course they`re worse off in state care. Now, what does it mean to me that the court won`t give the children to the father? I don`t know.
But I can tell you this much, Wendy Walsh. You`re the psychologist. If this were a man molesting little girls, there`s no way under -- on God`s green earth that they`re going to put the children back with him when he`s having sex with little girls. So why should it be different when Mommy is having sex with a line -- they`re lined up outside her kitchen door -- with little boys?
WENDY WALSH, PSYCHOLOGIST: You`re absolutely right, Nancy. I mean, flip it around. There`s a single dad. He`s at home with his three kids, and he gives alcohol to some teenage girls, has sex with them in front of the 5-year-old. It`s a closed case at that point. So why are we even debating this?
I understand this is going to be very traumatic for the children to be torn away from their mother. She is their primary attachment figure. Children still love their mother. But is this the best environment for these children? I don`t know.
But I do know that this is damaging to the victims because all rape victims get very confused because our bodies sometimes respond, even when our minds say no. So it`s a mixture of pleasure, fear and sadness.
And for boys, it`s particularly hard, Nancy, because we have this thing in our culture that says boys or young men should try to take any sex, any sex they can get anytime, so it should be fun and they should like it. So they have those messages, and it`s very difficult for them to reach out for help. And that`s the tragedy here.
GRACE: We`ve taking your calls. I think I`ve got Linda in Pennsylvania next. Linda? Hi, dear. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. It`s really not a question. It`s just a statement that I`d like to make.
GRACE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Promiscuity runs so rampant in our society today. It`s like you watch a TV program, you read a book or whatever. And the penalties for this promiscuity -- we`ve got to stiffen these penalties.
We`ve got -- life behind bars for someone of this nature -- I can see giving her therapy. I can see working with her to educate her and bring her around medically, whatever the case needed to prevent this from happening again. But as far as giving her back her children and -- and letting her -- she would really have to be rehabilitated and really have to go through a lot of training to be the proper mom that she should.
GRACE: You know, you`re right, Linda.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, life behind bars -- they let murderers out. They let rapists out on the streets, and they do it over and over again. Like Casey Anthony, walk away from a murder rap, which you fought for, and I did, too.
But you know what? This woman here, she`s not a murderer. Yes, she did take away their innocence to a certain aspect. But they`re going to lose it anyway.
GRACE: You know what? The point you made about rehab is interesting to me.
Wendy Walsh, you know what I was noticing in a lot of her photos? Her MO seems to be meet little boys through her 10-year-old son, is what we`ve been -- has been reported to us how she meets her victims, gets them over and then gets them drunk off booze.
And I keep noticing in a lot of her adult pictures, she`s got a bottle -- a bottle of beer, a glass of wine, many pictures. Wendy, now, people that are in college maybe when, you`re at some boozed-up frat party, but when you`re up in your 30s and you`re a mom, is it really appropriate to have drinking photos? I mean, what`s with that?
WALSH: No, I think -- I think she`s in kind of a stilted adolescence. You and I, Nancy, are smart enough to know to keep our glass of wine off our Facebook page! But...
(CROSSTALK)
WALSH: ... a teenager!
GRACE: She`s like -- Wendy, look at your monitor. She`s, like, holding up her bottle, and like, Party on! Whoo! I mean, she`s -- she`s- and I`m not here to judge her propriety. I really don`t care. But now that it`s come into issue that that`s her MO, it`s all fitting together, right? Hate to sound cliched, but check out Mommy!
WALSH: I would venture to guess that many of her victims are also her Facebook friends and she`s in the social circle with them on line. And so she`s replicating what they`re doing on line...
GRACE: You know what that means to me?
WALSH: ... because that`s the way she`s tricking them.
GRACE: That means evidence!
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cops are searching for more potential victims after arresting an Idaho mother for allegedly having sex with at least four teenage boys all under the age of 16. Thirty-five-year-old Courtney Sue Reschke faces felony charges after cops allege she gave alcohol to and had sex with several of her child`s teen friends inside her home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Welcome back. We are taking your calls. After a suburban mom gets busted, cops receiving tips that she is bringing over her 10-year-old son`s friends to the home, getting them drunk on booze and having sex with them, now we learn as we go to air potentially five known victims, all five boys apparently friends of her children.
Dr. Bill Manion, medical examiner, joining me out of Philadelphia. Dr. Manion, are some people more susceptible to STDs, sexually transmitted diseases, than others? And if she`s having sex with multiple people that we know of, that doesn`t bode well.
DR. BILL MANION, NEW JERSEY MEDICAL EXAMINER (via telephone): No. The more sexual partners you have, the more likely you`ll contract a sexually transmitted disease. In the United States, we have mandatory reporting for chlamydia, gonorrhea, chancroid and syphilis. These are all bacterial infections. Chlamydia is the number one sexually transmitted disease.
Now, I`m wondering if one of the boys may have manifested an infection, and when the doctor figured out he had some type of sexually transmitted disease, could that have triggered an investigation?
GRACE: OK, you know what? It`s not anything I really want to think about, but when you`re talking about evidence -- Elizabeth Beach, Joey Jackson, Darryl Cohen.
Darryl Cohen, if it comes in to trial in front of the jury that this woman, this mother of three, this suburban housewife, infected these boys with an STD, she`s up the creek without a paddle. I mean, who wants to conjure up that thought of getting -- this mom giving STDs to these boys?
COHEN: Nancy, if that were to happen, I absolutely agree with you, as reluctant as I am to do so. But what that point, the district attorney, the prosecutor and the defense, the defense needs to get on there and say, We`re sorry. She made a mistake. She made terrible mistakes, bad judgment. And we have gotten her therapy.
GRACE: Oh!
COHEN: She will continue to have therapy.
GRACE: Come on!
COHEN: That`s what we`ve got, if that`s what comes out.
GRACE: Joey Jackson, it`s like jumping into, you know, a hot tub in the Poconos and drinking out of it, all right, because she`s having sex with all these little boys prone -- now prone to STDs. I mean, she`s dead in the water if more than one or more of these kids have an STD that she`s given them. And they don`t -- they don`t -- she doesn`t have to submit to that type of a search. That`s done pursuant to a warrant, like a blood or a DNA or a fingerprint. They can find out from her -- they can force her to submit and find out if she`s got an STD.
JACKSON: No, sure, they could. But the point is, is that I don`t think this is a case to be brought before a jury.
GRACE: Oh, really?
JACKSON: I think this is a case that you work out with the district attorney. It`s a mitigation case. She has redeeming qualities. She can be rehabilitated. The victims can be treated.
GRACE: Did I ask you that? No. I asked you about the spread of STDs and what potential evidence that would be at trial.
JACKSON: Damaging, obviously.
GRACE: I`ve already heard all about rehab from you and she`s what, the homecoming queen in your book?
JACKSON: Well, no, but...
GRACE: Whatever.
JACKSON: ... you need a defense, and she`s obviously going to be convicted if you take it before a jury, and therefore, it doesn`t need to get there. It`s a case that you go to the DA...
GRACE: Elizabeth...
JACKSON: ... and you explain it.
GRACE: ... when you prosecuted Colleps, did that go to a jury?
BEACH: It went to a jury for punishment and for guilt. It was a two- phase trial. The jury heard both phases.
GRACE: Would she just not plea to anything, another mom/teacher having sex with minors?
BEACH: She elected to not enter any plea. When the judge asked what her plea was, she stood silent, which required the judge to enter a not guilty plea on her behalf.
GRACE: Enter not guilty. Got it. Out to the lines. Kari in Florida.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wanted to make a statement, and then I wanted to ask a question, if that`s OK. I understand that pedophiles and predators are not rehabilitative. And I believe Mr. Cohen`s looking at her picture. What if she was a 60-year-old woman?
GRACE: I doubt pretty seriously that Cohen and Jackson would have the same happy reaction if they were looking at that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.
GRACE: Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These boys -- and they will need therapy for the rest of their lives. They`re going to have relationship problems, and that`s a known fact when underage children are molested and raped. I wonder why her 10-year-old son had 14 and 16-year-old friends. It sounds like...
GRACE: Well, none of them -- none of them are 16. They`re all under 16. But it sounds like what to you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It sounds like she had her son rope them in.
GRACE: Very possible. Very possible. What to we know about that, Mike Sharp?
SHARP: You know, as I told you earlier, the most recent report from the Adie (ph) County sheriff`s office says that it was her oldest child that were the friends of these five boys. More than likely, that was her 15-year-old daughter that goes to the high school. And who knows, I mean, it could have been a birthday party that could have brought these boys over.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Officials reportedly believe Reschke`s younger children were home during at last one encounter. Cops reportedly state when one of Reschke`s children entered her room when she was having sex with one of the teen boys, Reschke...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Out to the lines. Cheryl, West Virginia. Hi, Cheryl. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My question is -- pedophiles cannot be rehabilitated. I do believe that`s got to be true because she had to know that she was doing something wrong.
And then how about the neglect of her children and that, when her little girl knocked on the bedroom door? I just think it`s just an awful crime, and I think that she should be punished for as far as the law can take it. And I don`t think she should see her children again. But I do think her rights should be terminated.
GRACE: I think you`re right. And as a matter of fact, the state agrees with you, and her children have been taken away from her.
Joe in Florida, what`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, there, Nancy. I have two questions.
GRACE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who discerned -- how did the police discern that the 5-year-old daughter walked into the bedroom? Did she tell them? And can you tell me -- your dear little twins are 5 years old. Could you trust them -- and they`re bright. Could you trust them to report something like that?
GRACE: You know, I would imagine, Ellie Jostad, that if the 5-year- old did tell them, it was pursuant to very careful questioning by a trained investigator or social worker. What do we know about how police learned about the 5-year-old girl walking in on her mom during one of these sex with minor incidents?
JOSTAD: We don`t know at this point whether they found out from that 5-year-old or if they found out from the boy victim that the mom was allegedly having sex with.
But Nancy, the investigators have told us that they do have other information in the form of some sort of contact either by social networks like Facebook, text messages, e-mails. They don`t want to release the specifics at this point, but they say they do have that type of evidence, as well.
GRACE: I would imagine one of the boys told police about the 5-year- old coming in.
JOSTAD: Well, right. That is certainly a possibility because they`re in the process of interviewing those alleged victims right now.
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GRACE: We remember American hero Army Staff Sergeant John A. Rejners (ph), 24, Lakeland, Florida, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, War on Terrorism Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, loved country music, leaves behind parents Rona (ph) and Greg (ph), stepmother Robin (ph), stepfather Jerry (ph), brothers Gregory (ph) and Mark (ph), sisters Glynnette (ph) and Hannah (ph), wife Casey (ph), son Lex (ph). John A. Rejners, American hero.
Back to you, Wendy Walsh, psychologist and expert joining me out of LA. One of the callers brought up how this affects children for the rest of their lives, even into their adult relationships.
WALSH: Absolutely. That is one of the greatest tragedies of sexual molestation is they learn to mistrust relationships, or they choose relationships that may have a power dynamic that doesn`t make sense. They participate in sexual activities that are way above and beyond their age because they`ve been exposed to them too early.
And they live with this sense of guilt and shame, especially male victims, because they don`t know how to talk about it or who to talk to about it because it is such a terrible crime.
GRACE: To Dan O`Donnell, anchor/reporter with WTMJ. Was there any evidence she was strung out on drugs, maybe booze?
O`DONNELL: No. As far as I can tell, there was no evidence that she`s ever had a problem with drugs. In fact, her criminal record is relatively short. In the fall, of 2010 she was cited for driving under the influence. There was driving after revocation. But no, nothing with drugs in her history.
GRACE: But definitely with alcohol. Of course, as we all know, voluntary intoxication, voluntary use of alcohol or drugs is not a defense.
Everyone, "DR. DREW" is up next. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 o`clock sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
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