Mom who gave teens booze before rape gets plea deal

Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, December 12, 2006

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – A woman who gave alcohol to teenagers at a Halloween party where a girl was raped was sentenced to a year of probation and fined $500.

As part of a deal with prosecutors, Mary Ping, 39, pleaded guilty Monday in Madison County Circuit Court to permitting a violation of the state Liquor Control Act, admitting she provided alcohol to minors in her home on Nov. 1, 2003.

Ping had been charged with contributing to the criminal delinquency of a minor, a felony that carried a possible three-year prison sentence.

Authorities have said Ping bought five bottles of liquor for eight minors who attended the Halloween party, including her son, James.

A 16-year-old girl who attended the party awoke in a camping trailer outside the Ping’s rural home in Highland, Ill., about 25 miles east of St. Louis, and realized she had been sexually assaulted, authorities said. James Ping later pleaded guilty to rape and received an indeterminate sentence in juvenile prison. He was paroled in June 2005.