By Celinda Emison
Friday, May 16, 2008

A Brownwood woman was arrested this week on an indictment for the sexual assault of a foster child who was in her care.

Phylecia Bien, 26, was indicted May 1 on a charge of sexual assault of a child in a case involving a 16-year-old male foster child in her care in 2005. The incident reportedly occurred in 2005 when he was 16 and lived with her for a month, police said.

"The alleged victim made an outcry to Child Protective Services," said Sgt. Troy Carroll of the Brownwood Police Department.

Bien was arrested on a sealed indictment Tuesday and booked in to the Brown County Jail and was released Wednesday on a $25,000 bond.

This is the second time Bien, formerly known as Phylecia Humphries, has been indicted on a charge of aggravated sexual assault of a child.

Bien was indicted on Jan. 10, for sexual assault of a child involving another 15-year-old male who was a foster child in her care in 2005. She was arrested and released on a $25,000 bond. The indictment followed a DNA test that was taken during the investigation from the alleged victim, that was compared to DNA from a baby Bien had in June of 2006.

"The test proved that there was 99.998 chance that the child was related to the alleged victim," Carroll said.

The January case is still pending in the 35th District Court in Brown County.

Officials at CPS said that Bien was not licensed through the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

"This home was licensed through a child placement agency," said Shari Pulliam, a spokeswoman for CPS. "She is no longer a foster parent, and CPS has not placed any children in that home in quite some time."

This the second indictment handed down this month involving alleged inappropriate relationships between a woman and a teenage boy.

Last week, a former teacher at Early High School turned herself in to police after being indicted on a charge of having an inappropriate relationship with an 18-year-old male student at Early High School.

Joy Blackstock, 23, of Brownwood, was indicted May 1 by the Brown County grand jury. The indictment was sealed until she turned herself in May 8. Blackstock, a choral teacher at Early High School, was released on a $15,000 bond.

Blackstock was charged with improper relations between an educator and student, a second-degree felony. If convicted, Blackstock faces two to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Police said she confessed after being confronted with the allegation by Early High School Principal Bobby Fryar on April 4. She resigned from EISD that day. Police said she confessed to "some sexual contact" with the student, whom they declined to name.

http://www.reporternews.com/news/2008/may/16/foster-mother-charged-with-sexual-assault/

Emphasis added by H4K Editor