DENVER -- A Fort Collins mother was charged with sexually assaulting a teenager who, police said, she met at a social gathering for people who dress up like animals and call themselves "furries."

 

Richael Michels, 45, was arrested last Thursday and faces three counts of sexual contact to coerce a child, three counts of felony sexual assault on a child and one count of felony sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust with a pattern of abuse.

 

According to the arrest affidavit, Michels met the 16-year-old boy and had sex with him several times. They met in March at a furry gathering and became good friends.

 

Detectives said they first heard about the case from a tip from the Department of Human Services. The DHS complaint, from Michels' husband, said he was concerned his wife was spending a significant amount of time chatting online with people he didn't know and that she had become involved in the furry lifestyle.

 

According to the arrest affidavit, the victim's mother and Michels were good friends and the relationship was ironic, given that the boy's mother trusted Michels as a mentor and "the whole time she was having sex with him."

 

Detectives built their case against Michels by using an individual she knew, but whose identity was redacted from the affidavit. In a series of text messages and messages through MSN Live Messenger, the individual told Michels she could no longer attend the furry meetings.

 

"This wasn't any sort of punishment from him, its because you've been having sex with him that we can't have that going on at the furmeet," one of the messages said. "If you were to promise to stop having sex with him, or at least not tell me about it, then things could change. I just don't want to get in trouble, which could get us involved."

 

Detectives sent messages to Michels through the individual to get her to admit to the relationship. According to the affidavit, "During the messaging between [the individual] and Michels, there were conversations exchanged about her having sex" with the teen, including on a few occasions, in her car.

 

When detectives confronted the teen about the relationship, he said Michels and he "engaged in sexual contact on multiple occasions, but he couldn't remember the details," the affidavit said.

 

In popular culture, there has been a sexual stigma attached to furries, and those connected with the movement are concerned the accusations will serve to further reinforce stereotypes.

 

This is a community of tens of thousands of people all over the country, said Brandon Devito, owner of a Littleton café that will cater to anime fans and furries when it opens next week. Its harmless, for the most part. When you go to a Star Trek conference, you see people wearing any number of different suits. A fur is no more or less silly than a 40-year-old man who dresses up like a Klingon.

 

Devito said more often than not, it is an excuse for the participant not to grow up.

 

He said there is a small number of involved because they are sexually attracted to anthropomorphic creatures, but he said at a furry conference with 800 rooms, only 10 rooms may be involved with sexual interactions.

 

Very, very few of the people who are furries are involved in sexual act that connects to the furdom, said Devito. Its a childlike enjoyment, a pure fandom. A way to interact with others on a level you dont feel judged.

 

Devito said it is important to judge the individual, not the culture from which they come.

 

Read arrest affidavit: page 1, page 2, page 3. Warning: Graphic Language.