Texas woman who had tryst with Barrie [ON] teen arrested in Houston

The 42-year-old Houston woman who was investigated but not charged after flying north for a tryst with a 16-year-old Barrie boy she met online was arrested by police in Texas after she flew home early Tuesday.

Lauri Price, a mother of four, is charged with two counts of online solicitation of a minor and one count of child enticement, Harris County officials confirmed to the Star.

Price was arrested at Bush Intercontinental Airport around 12 a.m., said the Houston-based Harris County District Office, and is to appear in court Wednesday morning.

The age of consent in Ontario is 16. In Texas, it's 17 and, county officials contend, Price was in Houston when she did the online luring.

She met Andrew Kane two years ago through the online game, World of Warcraft. An intense online relationship developed, his parents have said. A Harris county prosecutor described their online chats as "incredibly sexually explicit."

Barrie police say Price flew to Canada from Houston on Dec. 29 and rented a gold 2009 Toyota Corolla at Pearson Airport before driving to Barrie to meet Kane. The teen's parents contacted police, who put out an alert. The pair was found at a movie theatre in Orillia on Dec. 31.

Price told investigators she thought Kane was 20 years old and didn't know his real age until police informed her. Barrie police released Price after they decided she didn't break any laws.

Marlene Kane, the teen's mother, told the Star on Tuesday night that she felt "relief that (Price) can't contact Andrew from where she's at now."

It was Kane who contacted the Houston Metro Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. She said she kept in close contact with investigators. Federal immigration officials then told police of Price's return to Houston.

"We feel for Price's family. I read that she has young children and I hope she's in a place where she gets the help she needs," Kane said.

"I don't take any comfort or happiness in the fact that she's been arrested; it's not anything nice for anyone to go through, but if that's how it's got to be then that's how it's got to be," she said.

Kane said her family is focusing on helping their son "get the assistance he needs."

"We're working on his well-being. He's having challenges and will be seeking assistance for that," she said.

The teen crafted a note he left for his family before running away.

"I don't know how to explain it to you, but perhaps this will show you not only the commitment we have to each other, but also that your fears of her are ill-found," he wrote.

Kane was aware of her son's relationship with Price in 2008 after reading online chat logs between the two.

Price apparently had a history of online relationships.

Brian Stewart, of New York, said he had an online relationship with her over the same Warcraft game in 2008, but never met her in person.

"She was very sexual, emotional and 'clingy' during our months of in-game contact," Stewart wrote in an email to the Star last week.

I don't think she did anything really wrong. The age of consent where the "enticing" happened was 16, and in Canada.

They should throw the charges out. They're kinda BS.

However, the laws she is charged with are for online "luring", which she did in Texas, not Ontario.

Yes but how do you "lure" someone who you don't know is or isn't a minor? What I'm getting at is, if that's the case, how is that any different than hook-up sites? Given the assumption she doesn't know he isn't 17 (per Texas law), wouldn't that constitute the same thing?

Is she hot?

This is especially true if her claim that the boy misrepresented his age online (he said he was 20) is true. She had no way to verify his age until she got here, and once she was here, he was still over the age of consent.

However, the laws she is charged with are for online "luring", which she did in Texas, not Ontario.

I agree. That's why I said her claim that the boy misrepresented his age is rather pivotal...if she can convince the jury of that, I think it's crucial to her defense.

Why is Online Luring a seperate charge? I don't understand what about it is so significant that isn't already encompassed by soliciting sex from a minor and child enticement.

Yes but how do you "lure" someone who you don't know is or isn't a minor?

However, as an absolute, your statement is false DFK!

It really should be an afirmative defense to such a charge that the minor misrepresented their age, especially if the minor is old enough to appear to be an adult to the naked eye, or furnishes fake ID or something like that.

Or if the only sexing took place between a Tauren and an Undead.

Wait... she should be busted for bestiality and necrophilia too!

And they were at a freaking movie! Its not like they were caught en flagrante delicto or something.

That's one example, as are cases involving negligence (lack of intent) down to things as petty as "driving too fast for conditions".

Mens rea is important, no doubt, with a long history, but it does not support "The entire history of criminal law indicates you must possess criminal intent."

Has it not been ruled that lack of knowledge of law does not exempt one from prosecution. It might be a mitigating factor in sentencing or level of guilt though, especially in our modern judicial system.