Sex assault trial of Bucks mother opens

A night of depravity and incredible stupidity was admittedly had by all.

Teenage boys were pulling up porn on the computer. Two suburban mothers, ostensibly chaperoning the party, were pulling out red wine, and soon were drunk.

That was just for starters.

As a party for 15 to 20 boys and girls morphed into a boys-only sleepover in Lower Makefield Township in April, 38-year-old Angela Honeycutt danced provocatively for the teens, made out with three in a bedroom, and talked explicitly about sex, police allege. Ultimately, authorities say, she stripped and headed for the shower, soon to be joined there by two of the under-16 teens.

As Honeycutt's sexual assault trial began yesterday in Bucks County Court, the question before a six-man, six-woman jury was: How much of what went on was illegal?

Plenty, said Deputy District Attorney Mark Walz, who contends that Honeycutt had sexual intercourse with one of the boys in the shower, and engaged in other sexual activity with the second. A single mother of two young children, Honeycutt is charged with statutory sexual assault, unlawful contact with minors, indecent assault, and corrupting the morals of minors.

"It was supposed to be a sleepover for high school freshmen," Walz told the jury in his opening statement. "But the sleepover got way out of hand, and it was all because of the actions of Ms. Honeycutt."

Defense attorney Niels Eriksen denied that Honeycutt had sex in the shower with the first boy or sexually touched the second. He told the jury that the teens fabricated the allegations, first out of bravado, then out of need for a cover story when their parents found out about their boasts.

"This case is about teenagers being stupid," Eriksen said as his client wept in front of a growing pile of used tissues on the defense table. "This is about teenagers embellishing what happened that night. . . . This is about teenagers who needed an excuse for what happened that night."

Eriksen cast one of the teens, in particular, as an instigator. The boy, 15, pulled up Internet porn, swigged from an open bottle of wine, and persistently goaded the drunken Honeycutt into embarrassing - but not criminal - behavior, the lawyer said.

"She put herself in situations she should never have been in," Eriksen said. "She is mortified by what happened."

The incident began as a Friday-night coed party at the home of Honeycutt's neighbor and friend, Lynne Long-Higham. Honeycutt was asked to help chaperone the party.

Most of the teens had left by midnight, but at least six boys decided to sleep over.

One of the boys, 15, described a "kissing contest" in which he and two other boys took turns kissing Honeycutt to show "who wanted her the most."

The boy testified that Honeycutt told him to get a condom and have sex with her, but he refused. "She was like, 'OK, let's go,' " he testified.

Another boy followed her into the shower, emerging moments later to beg for the condom from the first boy.

The first boy testified that he and Long-Higham listened at the door and heard the sounds of bodies slapping together and Honeycutt moaning.

Honeycutt then reportedly emerged in a robe, smoked a cigarette on the floor, exposing herself, then led a second teen into the shower. Prosecutors say they engaged in sex acts, but did not have intercourse.

Long-Higham, 46, has pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of children and corrupting minors, and is awaiting sentencing. She is expected to testify against Honeycutt this week.