Mass. Woman Learns Fate for Raping 12-Year-Old Foster Child By Nicole Acosta

A Massachusetts woman who was convicted of raping her 12-year-old foster child has learned her fate.

Heather Wright-Craft, 52, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Oct. 21, according to a press release shared by the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office.

She was found guilty in September of two counts of aggravated child rape, prosecutors said. A jury found her not guilty of one count of indecent assault and battery of a child under 14. 

Prosecutors said the rapes occurred in Charlton, Mass., while Wright-Craft was fostering the child in 2015. According to reports from NBC Boston, MassLive and Boston.com, the victim was 12 at the time. Wright-Craft was arrested and charged in August 2017 and indicted the following year.

According to a sentencing memorandum cited by Boston.com, prosecutors said Wright-Craft claimed at trial that the child raped her and that at first, she tried to “sweep the issue under the rug.”

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

“Instead, she herself was struggling from addiction and her family and friends sought to get her help,” prosecutors said of Wright-Craft.

Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early, Jr. thanked Assistant District Attorney Thomas Ayres and Rachel Murphy, a victim witness advocate, as well as the Charlton Police Department for their assistance in the case.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.