A Spring City woman recently pleaded guilty to five counts of attempted aggravated sexual battery against a 10-year-old boy, while a Dayton man pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated sexual battery against an 11-year-old girl in an unrelated case.

Theresa Holloway, 29, entered the guilty plea Wednesday before Circuit Court Judge J. Curtis Smith, who sentenced her to five years on each count, to be served consecutively. Although her total sentence is 15 years, she is only required to serve 30 percent of the sentence, or five years, according to Assistant District Attorney Will Dunn.

The plea arrangement was made at the request of the victim's mother, Dunn said.

Holloway surrendered herself at the Rhea County Jail Wednesday afternoon to begin serving her sentence immediately.

The Tennessee Department of Corrections will determine whether she will be transferred to a state prison or allowed to serve her time at the jail, Dunn said.

The mother of the 10-year-old boy in Spring City contacted Sgt. Matt Rose with the Rhea County Sheriff's Department last February. She told Rose that Holloway was an old friend of hers and had been staying with her family for two or three months.

The mother told Rose about a conversation she had with another woman in early February and said the woman told her she had heard that Holloway had been sleeping with a teenage boy. The mother went home and began questioning her then 10-year-old son about Holloway.

The boy told his mother that he and Holloway had sex on several occasions, according to Detective Rocky Potter, who investigates crimes against children for the sheriff's department.

Potter arranged for the boy to be interviewed by counselors at the Children's Advocacy Center in Chattanooga. Afterward, Potter and a caseworker for Children's Protective Services also conducted interviews with the boy.

Potter then questioned Holloway, and she gave a statement consistent with those made by the boy. The Rhea County Grand Jury indicted Holloway on five counts of rape of a child after Potter presented the case to the grand jury for an original indictment in April.

In an unrelated case, Christopher Shane Davault, 32, of Dayton Mountain Highway, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated sexual battery, a Class B felony, on Feb. 13. Davault had been charged with one count of rape of a child, a Class A felony, and two counts of solicitation of a minor.

Circuit Court Judge Thomas "Rusty" Graham sentenced Davault to 10 years in the Tennessee Department of Corrections. He must serve 100 percent of the sentence, according to court records.

Davault was first identified in a Feb. 23, 2007, call to the Child Abuse Hotline, alleging that a 14-year-old girl had been raped by Davault three years earlier, according to Potter.

The girl only revealed the information after extensive counseling, Potter said. The rape allegedly occurred while the girl was staying at Davault's Dayton Mountain home when she was 11.

On April 25 Potter questioned Davault about the incident, and the man gave a statement consistent with the girl's, Potter said.

"Both Holloway and Davault will be listed in the Tennessee Sex Offender Registry and will be required to register for life with local law enforcement after serving their sentences," Dunn said.

John Carpenter can be reached at john.carpenter@rheaheraldnews.com