Ex-Boy Scouts leader accused of having relationship with 15-year-old Arkansas boy

Christina McCafferty
Christina McCafferty

A West Memphis woman who was once a leader for an Arkansas Boy Scouts troop was arrested Friday on charges stemming from a relationship with a 15-year-old boy from the group, police say.

Christina McCafferty, 38, faces charges of sexual indecency with a child and computer child pornography, Marion Police Department Detective Freddy Williams said.

Williams said McCafferty was being investigated “in reference to contact” with a 15-year-old boy with whom she had a “relationship.” She was arrested Friday morning, Williams said.

The detective said McCafferty was removed from her position in the Boy Scouts before her arrest due to “other things going on before these charges,” including “inappropriate phone calls” to the teen. Williams said police informed the Boy Scouts of the "inappropriate," but not yet criminal, contact between the woman and the boy in January or February of 2017.

Police said the 15-year-old boy was a member of her Boy Scouts troop. Authorities said McCafferty's behavior "escalated" after her removal.

McCafferty was being held in the Crittenden County jail in lieu of $35,000 bond Monday afternoon, Williams said.

Richard Fisher, scout executive and CEO of the Chickasaw Council of the Boy Scouts of America, which includes Crittenden County, said in an email Monday night that McCafferty had been a "volunteer" with the organization.

"She is no longer associated with Scouting," Fisher said. Fisher did not say when McCafferty ceased being a troop leader.

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