Woman who was 'complicit' in sex crimes pleads guilty
Jul. 27—LIMA — A Lima woman whose husband is serving a 156-year prison term for an assortment of sexual crimes against an underage female could wind up serving a decade behind bars herself.
Christy Holiday, 41, accepted a plea deal from prosecutors Tuesday in Allen County Common Pleas Court and, in doing so, admitted to being complicit in the actions of her HIV-infected husband and another man when they had sexual contact with underage females.
Holliday was indicted by a grand jury more than two years ago on one count of felonious assault, a second-degree felony; one count of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, a second-degree felony; and one count of sexual battery, a third-degree felony, in what was described as part of an organized pattern of criminal behavior with her husband.
As part of the negotiated resolution to the case, prosecutors dismissed the unlawful sexual conduct charge in exchange for Holliday's pleas of guilty to the two remaining counts.
She will be sentenced sometime in September — an exact date has yet to be determined — as a Tier 3 sex offender and will be required to register with local authorities as a sex offender every 90 days for the rest of her life.
While there is no mandatory prison sentence for her crimes, Judge Jeffrey Reed said Holliday faces a likely prison term of between two and 13 years.
The felonious assault charge alleged that Holliday or the person with whom she was complicit knowingly engaged in sexual conduct with a person under the age of 18 while knowingly carrying a virus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS.
In February 2020, her husband, Jay Holliday, was sentenced to a 156-year prison term for raping and impregnating a 16-year-old and another child — all while knowingly being infected with the HIV virus.
A Convoy man initially charged with rape as part of what was described as an organized sexual assault — along with the Holliday couple — of an underage female was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison.
James Hershberger, 39, was indicted by an Allen County grand jury on charges of rape, unlawful sexual conduct with a minor and sexual battery. In February, he accepted a plea deal from prosecutors that called for him to plead guilty to the sexual battery charge, a third-degree felony, in exchange for the state's dismissal of the remaining counts.
In court on Monday, defense attorney Thomas Lucente said his client was "victimized" by her husband. He asked the judge to reduce Holliday's $250,000 bond to an own-recognizance bond, saying that the woman who has been incarcerated in the Allen County jail for more than two years poses "no threat to society."
Reed authorized a reduction in her bond to $100,000 cash or surety.
