Molly Shattuck charged with rape and sexual contact with minor
Molly Shattuck, the former Ravens cheerleader who was married to one-time Constellation Energy CEO Mayo A. Shattuck III, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with third-degree rape and unlawful sexual contact with a 15-year-old boy, Delaware State Police said.
The 47-year-old mother of three and prominent philanthropist is accused of giving alcohol to the boy, her son's classmate, and performing oral sex on him at a Delaware beach house over the Labor Day weekend, according to an affidavit for a search warrant filed in Baltimore County District Court.
Shattuck was arraigned Wednesday morning in Sussex County Superior Court in Georgetown, Delaware. She pleaded not guilty and was released on $84,000 bond — and on the condition that she have no contact with the alleged victim or other minors except her own children, and the forfeiture of her passport according to the Delaware Attorney General's office.
"She is maintaining her innocence," said Shattuck's defense lawyer, Eugene Maurer, of Wilmington, Del. "She is obviously quite distraught." Shattuck is due back in court on Dec. 3 for a case review, Maurer said.
A Delaware grand jury handed down a nine-count indictment against Shattuck on Monday, and it was unsealed on Wednesday. She was charged with two counts of rape in the third degree, which carries a punishment of two to 25 years in prison; four counts of unlawful sexual contact in the second degree, with a penalty of up to three years in prison, and three counts of providing alcohol to a minor, which has a fine of between $100 and $500 and could lead to an order of community service or imprisonment of up to 60 days.
According to the affidavit, the boy — a student at the McDonogh School — told police that Shattuck began a flirtation with him on the social networking site Instagram in May.
The Baltimore Sun does not name alleged victims of sexual crimes.
The McDonogh School issued a statement Wednesday saying administrators contacted police in late September as soon as they learned of allegations involving a student and a parent of another student.
"The safety and well-being of our students is our greatest priority at all times," headmaster Charles W. Britton wrote to parents of McDonogh students in an email Wednesday. The letter said the parent – who was not named—had been banned from campus.
Shattuck, a self-styled fitness and lifestyle guru who was the oldest cheerleader in the history of the NFL, began sending provocative messages to the boy in the spring saying, "we would have fun together," according to the affidavit.
The two met in a movie theater in Columbia and then drove to a middle school parking lot in Mt. Airy where they kissed and had sexual contact, according to the affidavit.
In the summer, she would pick up the boy during his lunch breaks from a class and drive him to the parking garage of the T. Rowe Price building in Owings Mills where they would "get in the back of the car and kiss or 'make out,'" according to the affidavit.
Over Labor Day weekend, the boy accompanied Shattuck and her three children — who range in age from 11 to 15 — and their friends to a Bethany Beach rental home, according to the affidavit.
The boy, who had traveled to the beach separately, asked his father for permission to spend the night with Shattuck's family. Shattuck assured the boy's father that "there was no alcohol or drugs at the residence and she was the only adult," according to the affidavit.
However, she shared wine with the alleged victim while he played "music and games" with the other boys, according to the affidavit.
Around 2 a.m., Shattuck left the younger children sleeping in the rental home and took the alleged victim and other teenagers to a liquor store, the affidavit states. There, she purchased Miller Lite and Bud Light for them, according to the affidavit.
Back at the house, according to the affidavit, Shattuck then asked the alleged victim to help her walk the dog. Once they got outside, she began kissing him and fondling him, then performed oral sex on him, according to the affidavit.
The boy then went up to a rooftop deck, where he, Shattuck, and the other teenagers drank alcohol.
Shattuck then "came up and said that [the alleged victim] needs to go to bed," according to the affidavit.
According to the affidavit, the boy then went into Shattuck's bedroom. She stripped down to her underwear, performed oral sex on him again and told him she would be willing to have intercourse. He decided to leave.
The boy's father picked him up later in the morning, and the boy has not had contact with Shattuck since the incident, according to the affidavit.
According to the letter from the headmaster of the McDonogh School, he learned of allegations against a parent on Sept. 24. Headmaster Britton said in the letter that he immediately reported the allegations to Baltimore County Police.
"I want you to know that the parent has been prohibited from entering McDonogh's campus," he wrote, "and additional security measures have been in place to assure the safety of our students since the incident was reported."
Delaware authorities said in a statement that Baltimore County Police contacted them on Sept. 26 to report that the 15-year-old had said he had an inappropriate relationship with a woman later identified as Shattuck.
Delaware State Police searched Shattuck's Roland Park home on Oct. 1, seizing items they identified as "pertinent to the investigation."
The affidavit gave police permission to seize Shattuck's cell phone, computers and other electronic devices as well as the "pink lace bra and underwear" that the alleged victim said Shattuck wore at the beach house.
Howard County Police said Wednesday that the alleged incident at the Columbia movie theater — which, according to the affidavit, included genital contact — was not reported to authorities at the time.
Police are currently investigating the allegations, said Howard police spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn.
Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott D. Shellenberger said his office had "reviewed the facts and the circumstances of the allegations" but was deferring prosecution due to the "seriousness of the allegations in Delaware."
"Should additional facts come to light or circumstances change in the case in Delaware, this decision will be revisited," Shellenberger said.
A spokeswoman with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Baltimore said that Shattuck had not been charged by that agency. The agency will neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation, she said.
No one answered Shattuck's front door — still decorated with black and orange streamers for Halloween — at her home Wednesday morning. Neighbors either declined to comment or said they did not know the Shattucks well.
Mayo Shattuck, who prior to joining Constellation was chairman of the board of Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown, referred calls to a family spokesman, George P. Stamas, also formerly with the investment firm.
"Mr. Shattuck is shocked and saddened about the allegations against his ex-wife, from whom he is divorced," said Stamas, now a senior partner at the Kirkland & Ellis law firm in Washington. "He is focused on the care and welfare of his children who are with him and is deeply concerned about others affected by this. He requests that the privacy of his children be respected."
Shattuck now holds the position of chairman of Exelon Corp., the Chicago-based energy giant that merged with Constellation in 2012.Michelle N. Lipkowitz, a Baltimore-based attorney representing
Molly Shattuck, said her client has resigned from all of her nonprofit boards, including the Baltimore School for the Arts, United Way and the National Children's Museum.
"It's is a difficult time for all involved," Lipkowitz said, declining further comment.
The United Way of Central Maryland said that Shattuck, who sat on their board and was "a long time volunteer," is now barred from any future participation with the organization.
The allegations about Molly
Shattuck had circulated through Baltimore for weeks before the indictment was handed down. As rumors spread, a website promoting her book, "Vibrant Living," went into maintenance mode and her various social media accounts were shut down.
"It's the talk of the town. It's probably the most sensational thing that's ever hit Baltimore. Everyone is talking about it," said Lainy LeBow-Sachs, executive vice president at the Kennedy Kreiger Institute and a prominent player in the local philanthropic community."I think it's a very sad time. It's sad for the children and the family and it's sad for her. The whole thing is just pathetic."
Adam Rosenberg, the executive director of the nonprofit Baltimore Child Abuse Center, said that people mistakenly tend to trivialize the impact of sexual abuse on a teenage male.
"Even though he may look and act like an adult, his brain is not there yet," Rosenberg said. "A 15-year-old doesn't know he is being manipulated, he is being taken advantage of and ultimately exploited."
Rosenberg said the affidavit describes a classic pattern of an adult grooming a young person to become a victim of sexual abuse.
Sexual predators "groom the victim and everyone around them to make them think it is OK," he said.
Rosenberg suggested that parents closely monitor their children's use of social media.
"It takes a community to protect children," he said. "If other adults and children are seeing behavior between adults and children that doesn't seem right, they need to report it."
The former Molly Ann George grew up in the small manufacturing town of Kittanning, Pa., about 50 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. She was captain of the varsity cheerleading team and voted most popular in high school. She then graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1989, where she majored in marketing.
She met her future husband in the mid 1990s when she was working in marketing at Alex. Brown. At the time, Mayo Shattuck was president and chief operating officer of the investment bank. Shattuck and his first wife, Jennifer, with whom he had two children, divorced in 1995. Molly and Mayo were married in 1997.
Shattuck became the oldest cheerleader in NFL history when she joined the Ravens squad at age 38 in 2005. Her husband had been deeply involved in the sale of a minority ownership position in the team about five years earlier. Ravens spokesman Kevin Byrne declined to comment on the allegations.
Shattuck became a key player in Baltimore fundraising circles, volunteering for the United Way of Central Maryland the Baltimore School for the Arts and other groups.
The United Way of Central Maryland released a statement saying "In light of these very serious allegations, the Board is scheduled to convene later today regarding the situation," spokeswoman Danielle Hogan said in a statement Wednesday.
Shattuck also launched a health and exercise website, video and book called
"Molly Shattuck Vibrant Living." The book, which was published in March, offers a 21-day plan to "transform your body, burst with energy, and live your life with purpose."
She also appeared, with her mother, Joan George, in a 2008 episode of the Fox reality show "Secret Millionaire." Shattuck and George posed as low-wage workers in a Pennsylvania mining town, got to know a few people who were in need, then, with the big reveal, gave away close to $200,000 to those they had met.
In 2005 she told the Sun that she didn't have a serious boyfriend in high school and skipped the senior prom to hike in the Grand Canyon. She had seen other girls in her town marry young and never leave the town. "I guess I was focused on other things," she said in the profile. "I knew I was going to leave. I knew I was going to see the world."
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