Woman who once posed as a boy arrested for violating probation

A woman who posed as a homeless, orphaned boy and befriended and abused a teenage girl has been returned to jail after state Department of Corrections officials say she had been living with a minor.

By Jennifer Sullivan

Seattle Times staff reporter

A woman who posed as a homeless, orphaned boy and befriended and abused a teenage girl has been returned to jail after state Department of Corrections officials say she had been living with a minor.

Lorelei Corpuz, 31, was sentenced in June 2007 to a year in jail for child molestation. She had been released from prison and was on community supervision, this state's version of probation, when she was arrested last Wednesday.

Department of Corrections (DOC) spokesman Chad Lewis said that Corpuz was arrested by Snohomish County sheriff's deputies for illegal contact with a minor. Because of her conviction, Corpuz had registered as a sex offender and was forbidden from having contact with children.

Lewis said that when Corpuz was arrested she had been living with an underage relative.

Corpuz will have a DOC administrative hearing at the Snohomish County Jail on Aug. 4. At that time corrections staff will review her criminal history, the new crime she is accused of and likely recommend that she serve additional jail time, Lewis said.

Corpuz posed as 17-year-old Mark Villanueva when she met a 14-year-old girl at Everett Mall in September 2005. The girl's parents allowed Corpuz to move into their South Everett duplex.

After moving into the home Corpuz beat and molested the girl, Snohomish County prosecutors said. The relationship was discovered when police stopped Corpuz and the teenage victim for a traffic stop in April 2007.

When sentenced in June 2007, Corpuz was given the maximum penalty under state guidelines. She had also been charged with two counts of third-degree child rape, but the charges were dropped when she pleaded guilty to the lesser charge and spared the victim from the trauma of testifying in court, authorities said.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com