Law&Crime Sidebar - Florida Stepmom Caught Having Sex with Teen Stepson: Cops

Episode Date: April 30, 2025

An unidentified 15-year-old boy reported to Marion County, Florida authorities that his father allegedly walked in on him and his stepmother, Alexis Yates, having sex in the living room of his home. The teen was reportedly visiting his father for summer vacation. Now, as Yates faces a charge of sexual battery, her nursing license is on the line as well. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber discusses the disturbing details with Florida victim’s rights lawyer John Phillips.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW:Plaud NotePin (10% OFF with the code" PLAUD16"): https://bit.ly/3EpwFfB Plaud Amazon: https://amzn.to/4lG76aOHOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger, Christina O'Shea & Jay CruzScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson & Juliana BattagliaGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Florida officials are taking away a woman's nursing license after they say she got caught having sex with her 15-year-old stepson. That news led us down a path of disturbing details that Shed light not only on the suspects alleged actions, but the reaction from the victim's own family. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by law and crime. I'm Jesse Weber.

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and allows you to stay engaged. stay engaged in the conversation. So right now you can get 10% off. Just click the link below or scan the QR code on screen. If you're serious about leveling up, start here. A registered nurse caught in a compromising position with her husband's 15-year-old son. Quite the headline. I know. But that is what is apparently detailed in an arrest report from Ocala, Florida. Because now 35-year-old Alexis Yates, also known as Alexis Vaughn Yates, is facing a charge of sexual battery on a person 12 to 18 years of age by a person in familial custody. So how did we get here? Well, to talk about it, I want to bring him victims rights lawyer John Phillips.

John, thanks so much for coming back here on Sidebar. My gosh, we're going to get into more of the disturbing details of what allegedly happened here between Yates and her stepson in just a moment. But first, I just want to get your reaction to that accusation. I mean, it's pretty crazy to be thinking about. It is. I started reading the affidavit at like 9 o'clock in the morning, you know, before my coffee. And it, I felt dirty. Like, it's just, it's, it's awful.

It just, you know, it's, it's a bad X-rated movie, you know, in real life with a real child victim. It's interesting you say that because I had Chris Hansen here the other day, renowned predator catcher. And when we talk about these cases, one of the things that came up was, why are we seeing stories like this, like almost every day? And there's a number of factors. But you wonder if all the allegations are true. So assuming this is all true for a minute, you wonder what is the impact pornography might be having? Why? Because honestly, the truth is, sexual encounters between adult film stars pretending to be step parents and stepchildren.

that makes up a large swath of the pornography industry and you have to wonder what impact do you think porn has on creating the foundation for crimes like these. And yes, these are allegations and we're not saying pornography had any kind of impact on this, but it became part of the conversation. And I'm just wondering, in your opinion, is that a factor? Is that a consideration trying to make sense of stories like this? I deal with them all the time, teachers, stepchildren. Tell me if I'm crazy for thinking that.

there's two parts of it you know so i have a 13 year old boy and you got to gauge when you're going to have the birds and the bees talk right but but like my parents it was pre-internet and so where else was i going to learn it other than from friends right here you're you're a vp in a way you know as a child from seeing and knowing anything and everything and you know even howard stern on his radio show talks about his proclivity towards stepmom or stepdad porn. And that's exactly kind of what played out here. I don't know that one caused the other, but certainly our children are able to mature and know things. Even reading the affidavit here, you want the 15-year-old to be innocent. But the way that he was operating, clearly, even though allegedly he was a virgin,

he moved in a way that seemed to be experienced. Well, he's a minor, though. That's the problem. And there's no really any such thing as consent when you're dealing with a minor. So let me amplify that a little bit. Let me explain a little bit more of the circumstances of this case.

So I want to talk about this alleged incident between Yates and her 15-year-old stepson, 15 years old. So Yates has been married to the boy's father for six years. This is according to social media posts that were viewed by the outlet. Cala News. The teen was apparently visiting his father in Florida in 2024 for summer break. Now, according to the Marion County Sheriff's Office, an anonymous tip came in on July 30th,

2024, saying that a man had walked in on his wife and son having sex. Okay. So detectives brought in the child victim for what's called a forensic experiential trauma interview at a child advocacy center to try to get to the bottom of what happened. Let's just stop right there. John, those interviews typically conducted? Very sterile. You know, you have somebody that's experienced with child trauma who conducts an interview. You know, typically you're looking at younger victims than this, so they're trained to handle things very delicately.

You know, this one read very interesting because, again, you're dealing with a teenage boy here and there's some parts of it that he even, apparently one of the interviewers was a female and even apologized to the female because the female interviewer, law enforcement agent, that he was having to use these words describing oral sex and going into great detail. The affidavit goes into tremendous detail. Oh, my gosh. This, what the teen reportedly said was just chilling and disgusting, to say the least. I mean, he apparently revealed that his dad worked late nights as alignment.

And he was staying with his dad, stepmom, two younger half siblings as part of this summer vacation. According to the arrest affidavit on the night of the incident, Yates had put the youngest children to bed and then started playing a video game or video games and watched a movie with this 15-year-old. And he claims that she let him use her THC vape pen. Now, around 1 a.m., they both apparently decide they're bored with watching the movie that they're apparently looking at, they're watching, which is when the teen claims that Yates started making these inappropriate sexual comments, including allegedly, that she was horny and hadn't had sex. in two weeks. Now, the teen told the interviewer that Yates had been making sexual jokes in front of him for approximately a week leading up to that night. According to the arrest affidavit, he also disclosed that he hadn't had any sort of sexual experience before and was essentially, I think it's fair to say, based on the characterization, maybe infatuated with Yates. So, John,

let's stop again. If this is all true, would this classify as grooming, taking part in something, the teen likes, the video games, giving the opportunity to partake in intoxicated. Substances, slowly introducing him to sexual ideas, does that seem like a classic grooming accusation? It does, you know, because there's like a golf cart trip with other females at a point and he takes some shot of alcohol and gets another exposure to either CBD or THC, I think is THC, and even feels woozy to the point they need to speed the golf cart up so he can get some air. And then there's reference to this stepmom porn and horniness. And it's just appalling.

And, and, you know, you just, you don't talk to children like that, much less, much less, you know, push things forward. It's just, it's 100%, you know, grooming. And there's like a reference comparing their penises in there, too, by her. Yeah. Which was mortifying. Let me just say, I'm not going to get into detail, but she's accused of comparing the son to the father. Just put that to the side for a second. Okay. So the arrest affidavit continues, quote, thinking about all the statements the suspect had made to him about being horny, he decided to ask her if she wanted to cuddle. The suspect stated she thought that might be weird.

So he lays on top of the suspect as she lay with her head down, the armrest of the couch. And she commented something to the effect of, oh, you're just going wrong. right for it, huh? The suspect and child victim kissed. As the suspect began escalating, the suspect said, oh man, I wish you were 18 because you're not old enough. Now, despite this alleged

statement, the teen victim apparently told the interviewer that he performed oral sex on Yates, and this escalated with the two of them then having sex. And again, the details in this affidavit are incredibly detailed and graphic. We're not going to be getting into any of them here, but the

interviewer noted that the way the teen described all of this was consistent with somebody who actually experienced this rather than somebody just telling them a story that they heard, which I think John is important, right? As disgusting as those details are, I think it goes to that level of credibility and particularly it shows how careful these interviews have to be. Right. You know, the minutia matters. And they talk about cunningness and where he kissed and licked and her response. And it checks out, as the kids would say. it's outrageous and nothing, but grooming, providing underage with intoxicants. It's just, it's just all around awful.

But it's interesting, if you take these allegations, it's true, and we have a lot more to get into here. But for a minor to be able to open up and explain this, that's not easy for anybody, but let alone somebody that age, do you see it's like they have a sense, I want to tell the story, I want to get this off my chest? And by the way, these are allegations, right? She hasn't been proven guilty. But it seems in a lot of the cases that I've covered, we've covered together, there is that

level of detail and there is that level of opening up. And I'm curious if you see a pattern. You do. You know, this is a 15-year-old boy. And again, taking it that he is a minor, unquestionably, the average boy loses his virginity at 15 to 17. So at some point, I think he's not. not ashamed. There's the family shame, the what's going to come of how this destroys my family.

But I think the sex act, even, like I said, reference to the investigator, oh, sorry if I'm being too graphic, you know, there's points of it that are so discussed in such detail. And this is just the report, right? This is just the officer's affidavit. There was almost about the amount of times she had to moan, like there was almost some bravado in his storytelling. And it circles back on the double standard of some of these cases sometimes when you have a female victim versus a male victim, we're not as a society is appalled by this. If the genders were opposite, people would be in an outrage. And we should be equally outraged because a 15 year old's a 15 year old. Going back to that arrest affidavit, it reads, quote, suddenly the door began to unlock.

The front doors directly in front of the couch. The child victim recalled running to the bathroom as his father entered the home, seeing his wife with no bra on and a blanket covering the lower half of her body. The child victim's father saw the child victim running to the bathroom and yelled, what the bleep is going on as he threw things. Quote, the child did not disclose what occurred, and his father told him to pack his thing, saying he was taking the child victim to his grandparents home. As he packed the things, he heard his father yelling at the suspect. Now, the teen told the interviewer that his father called his stepmother some things that we can't repeat here, but also allegedly called her a child predator. And according to the arrest

affidavit, quote, he also overheard the suspect telling the child victim's father, she was sorry, saying the child victim looks like his father when he was younger. And according to the teen, Yates immediately started spinning a tail that she wasn't at fault. Quote, the child victim's father then returned the child victim and confronted him, saying the suspect told him she was asking child victim to stop. The child victim told his father this was untrue. The child victim then believed he was going to get beaten by his father's belt, but his father decided not to. They got into the car as the child victim's father told the child victim he ruined his life. They stopped at a gas station and child victim's father purchased a six pack of beer, began drinking them aggressively

as he took the child victim to his grandfather's home. The child victim's father told the child victim never to contact him again because he was, quote, a failure. Now, the sheriff's office says that the teen claimed during this interview that members of his family were actively trying to cover up what had happened. Per the affidavit, quote, he recalled disclosing what occurred to his cousin at the location. After this, his grandfather confronted the child victim saying, you better not be telling them what happened. His grandfather then told him not to call his mother when the child victim attempted to

call to disclose to her. When asked to clarify a statement made by the child victim about his father trying to cover it up, the child victim stated that his father called his grandfather saying he wanted to strangle the child and then kill himself. His father later called him and told him not to tell his mother and not to tell the police. The child victim's aunt later told the child victim that the suspect was talking about the incident but was calling the child victim a master manipulator blaming him for the incident. So, John, a lot of allegations back and forth here, hard to make sense of what's going on.

But if you take this account as true, very, very disturbing. What do you take away from this? Very disturbing. And, you know, people tend to live in the now. And so you've got an electrical worker, right? The guy that goes on the lines and keeps our power on in Florida during, you know, I don't know whether this happened in hurricane season or not. But, but, you know, a hard worker who came in late at night early in the morning and sees this

horror of horrors, that then, you know, is going to have a secondary impact on his child custody. And, you know, the stigma of this, you know, all your friends, all your neighbors are going to be, you know, if this makes public and people know who it is, are going to be like, what in the world? And so people live in the now. And so I'm not surprised that he would have suicidal thoughts. There was no physical violence, thank God. But I can't stress it enough. And no matter what the 15-year-old did to provoke or entice this, they can't. And so, you know, it's up to the adult to leave the room or, or, you know, keep your clothes on. And that didn't happen here. But if you take these allegations as true, also, do you see a common for the

suspect, the defendant in this case, Ms. Yates, someone in her position to shift the blame to the other party to shift the blame to the minor victim, which, again, is not a legal defense, but generally speaking, do you see those kinds of defenses or justifications in a way, not even a legal defense, but just a defense to what happened? Right. I mean, according to the people that were there, according to this report, they both admit she did it and she was caught in the act of doing it. So the next best thing, you can't say it didn't happen, right?

Your gas light isn't going to shine that far. The next best thing is, but it's his fault. You know, I'm the victim. And the problem is that admits statutory rape, basically. But it's, it's just, you know, what else are you going to say kind of living in the now as a defense? From a legal point of view, a Florida legal point of view, if these allegations are true, if you are telling the minor victim not to report what happened, not talk about what happened, is that a crime? It is. So Florida, Florida can prosecute that as, as, you know, kind of double punishment. to some extent is either blackmailing of a witness or witness tampering. Now, the affidavit continues, and the affidavit says, quote, the child victim expressed sorrow and was emotional as he disclosed realizing that his

man's man, blue-collar father, seeing what happened to his son, did not face the sexual abuse of his child like a man. And according to the alleged victim, it didn't end there because according to him, Yates continued trying to communicate with him. The arrest affidavit says the day after the incident, the child victim called the suspect. During this phone call, the suspect told the child victim she wished his father had not caught them. The days after his interview with police, the affidavit indicates that the victim had a phone call with someone named Haley. Now, it's not clear who exactly this person is, but it's possible this person is a family member of some kind.

She advises his father is willing to take the truth about the incident and protect the child victim if he's willing to testify. the child victim says now he knows his father is on his side he would be willing to do so the child victim was told that the child victim's father did not want to live with the suspect any longer but it's complicated when asked about the relationship the child victim was advised that his father wanted the suspect to be arrested haley advised that the child victim's father did not wish to kill him anymore and told her their grandmother and others that he will testify and wants the child victim to do so as well wow whiplash here john The family dynamic is wild here.

But again, you're dealing with a crime, but also the stigma of, you know, my partner does family law and, you know, how this is going to be used in a custody case is real. And meanwhile, you have a 15-year-old kid that has emasculated in some ways their father. I mean, this wasn't just somebody that had been dating for a while. This was somebody he had been married to for a fairly lengthy period of time. And this is the ultimate betrayal, you know, not just child abuse, but sexual abuse. And he's reading the report and saying that his penis size was compared to his 15-year-old's penis size and in shape and color and texture.

It's just there are no words. It's awful. I have nothing to say to that. I got nothing to say to that. It's, I don't know. Let me shake that one off for a second. So anyway, deputies, they indicate in this affidavit that they tried multiple times. to get in touch with the eights and her husband, but they were unsuccessful. So in November of

2024, they went to the home, took her into custody. According to the affidavit, Yates advised, she did not wish to speak with me without a lawyer present, but made several unprovoked statements about believing that since the Department of Children and Families had closed their case, she was in the clear saying the incident was so accusatory attempting to put blame on the child victim. John, if that's true, what does that indicate to you? You know, they're two separate cases, the DCF investigation, you know, and their resources and the amount of complaints they get versus what the law enforcement and a prosecutor are going to do is two separate things. And again, I don't know if she's Mirandized, it kind of says she was, but that was kind of a

statement against interest too. You know, it wasn't, I'm not going to talk and deny everything. It was, oh, but they've already looked into this and they didn't see. It was that bad. But again, this would have to be the lie of the century, a series of lies of the century, you know, In other cases, you can see a child victim saying things that don't quite add up. But this is in such graphic detail, and there's some kind of contemporaneous admissions to the father that I just don't see this going to full prosecution range. Well, let's talk about the legal case.

So Yates was originally arrested in a charge of lewd or lascivious battery on a child aged 12 to 16. But when prosecutors filed their case in December, they apparently charged her with sexual battery on a person 12 to 18 years of age. by a person in familial custody. I read the statute on it, and it says this is when a person engages ending the act with that person while the person is 12 years of age or older, but younger than 18 years of age, which constitutes sexual battery, commits a felony of the first degree. It could be punishable up to maybe 30 years in prison. The other charge was a second degree felony, my understanding is.

So, John, this is per the Marin County online court records. It seems that they upgraded the charge. So a first degree felony, right? Yeah, and you see that in. If it hit the capital level, they'd need a grand jury. That's not this case. But you see that kind of commonly that police don't want to overcharge in the initial filings, the initial discussion.

But once they put the facts around and see what the highest charge is for the court case, they try to charge as high as they can and then have the lesser included within it in case that series of facts don't fit the crime. But here, it seems like it does. You want all of the evidence you can get your hands on. before, you know, your filing decision. She was released the following day after she posted a $10,000 bond. And according to online court records, various depositions of witnesses have been underway.

Yates is due back in Marion County Court at the end of May. If she's convicted, I mean, she could be facing years in prison, right, John? I mean, this is not a probationary offense. If this is true, she could get prison time for this, significant prison time, right? You know, not just years, but potentially decades. And courts are stepping up and doing this. You know, I watch, I live in Florida. And so I watch the news in Florida, you know, weekly, if not nightly, when I'm not watching

Law and Crot. And, you know, I appreciate it. Absolutely. Prosecutors are, prosecutors are taking these cases seriously because teachers are losing their minds left and right and sleeping with their students. And it is being prosecuted. seriously now. Again, there used to be more of a double standard where if it, if it happened to a girl, it was more seriously prosecuted. If it happened to a guy, like, boys will be boys.

But, you know, finally the law is like, we're going to protect all children. Let's say this goes to trial and all of a sudden, this, you know, alleged minor victim, the father, they don't want to testify about this. They don't want the shame of it. They don't want the harassment, whatever it might be. They decide, I don't want to talk about this. I don't want to testify. Is that the end of the prosecution's case? Can they compel them to testify? You know, I, you tell me how that works.

Yeah, it's it. So yes, they can compel them to testify. You know, that that doesn't mean that you're not, as a prosecutor, you don't want your victim to be an uncooperative witness. And so there is a, there's a decision to be made if that were the case, all right, you know, I can compel them to testify and they're not going to answer me correctly or they're not going to be sympathetic. I'm going to wind up losing this case anyway. And so then I have an uncooperative victim. I've lost the case. What good was it? I can certainly get in some of this

through investigators. But you really need the victims. And the victims have to make a decision because you're going to have at 15, you're going to have somebody that's still a minor that's trying to go on with their life and a stigmatized father and other family members that just want this as far behind them as possible but it's it's in their future for a period of months or years but this is not the end of the story i want everybody know because in the meantime while all this criminal case is going on okay she's also facing a possible disciplinary hearing with the florida department of health in regard to her nursing license remember nurse on april 25th the department announced her license was suspended documents from the department say joseph a ladapo md phd state surgeon general orders the

emergency suspension of the license of Alexis Yates R.N. to practice as a registered nurse in the state of Florida. In the course of their practice, registered nurses are responsible for administering treatment and medication to patients and caring for ill, injured, or infirm patients. Nurses are placed in a position of trust. Therefore, it is imperative that they demonstrate good judgment and good moral character. Ms. Yates' decision to engage in sexual activity with a minor child and or her decision to allow a child to engage her in oral and penetrative sex indicates that she lacks the good judgment and moral character necessary to be a registered nurse. Miss Yates continued practice as a nurse presents a risk of immediate serious danger to the health,

safety, and welfare of the public. The Department of Health is now reportedly in the process of setting up an official disciplinary hearing. She has 30 days to appeal her license suspension if she chooses John. I understand it. I get it. But she hasn't been found guilty yet. They can make a decision like this nonetheless, you think? They can. You know, you see it, you know, people hear about in the law enforcement context where, you know, there's a police involved shooting and they're suspended with pay, and then there's an administrative finding and they're restored. And it's kind of similar here. You know, the Department of Health can make decisions if they feel like there's

going to be imminent risk to the public. And this is not just child abuse, but child sexual abuse. and the hospital doesn't want to be sued, and administrators don't want to have to deal with this. And so there's a temporary suspension of privileges while it's formally set for a hearing. And then there's an appellate process after that. I've had a pediatric abuse of pediatric dentist suspended and they never got his license back. She could get it back if the case is dropped or she's acquitted. Absolutely. Or if she successfully convinces the, it gets into this whole Fifth Amendment thing because you've got to figure out which fight you want to

Because if you go to the administrative board and want to tell your story, that story will be used against you. In the criminal case. In the criminal case, you know, a statement against interest by a party opponent, you know, either way, it would come in. And so justice is spelled one way to a victim. And again, this is not your typical victim, but it's defined many different ways. And, you know, typically victims want to see criminal justice. They want to see administrative justice. They, you know, sometimes file lawsuits when those are both insufficient. And so there's definitely prosecution and investigation going around on all sides here. What a case. What a case. John Phillips, thanks so much for coming on. It was great seeing you.

Thank you. This one, this one, this one was a hard read. Yes, it was. I feel, I feel looking at these allegations, reading these allegations, I feel pretty disgusting. But we'll keep a careful eye on what happens next. John Phillips, thanks so much. And that's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you should get your podcast. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time.