Federal Charges Added To Tolland County Child Sex Assault Case

COLUMBIA, CT — A Tolland County woman accused of sneaking around with a minor for sex now has federal charges added to her state criminal case.

The federal charges were announced Tuesday by U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery, FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Fuller and Connecticut State Police Col. Loughman. Alyson Cranick 43, of Columbia, was charged via a federal criminal complaint with enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity.

Cranick’s initial appearance in federal court is scheduled for Wednesday, Avery said.

Cranick was initially arrested on state charges on Nov. 14 and she has been detained in state custody on $750,600 in bonds since Nov. 28, judicial system records show. State charges include four counts of first-degree sexual assault, judicial system records show. She has a remote hearing scheduled for Aug. 30 on the state charges.

According to the federal complaint, Cranick, first using text messaging and Snapchat, and then using the internet chat service Discord, enticed an 11-year-old boy to engage in "sexually explicit conduct" with her. Several times during the summer of 2022, the boy sneaked out his house after midnight to meet up with Cranick to "engage in sexual activity," according to the federal complaint.

Between July and October 2022, Cranick exchanged more than 4,700 messages with the boy on Discord, according to the federal complaint.

The charge of enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity carries a mandatory minimum prison term of 10 years and a maximum term of life in prison, Avery said.

The case was investigated by the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force and the Connecticut State Police’s Eastern District Major Crime Unit. Avery said the State’s Attorney's Office for the Judicial District of Tolland also assisted with the investigation.