According to an indictment filed in the U.S. District Court in Asheville, Rachel Paige Crowe is accused of engaging in sexual acts with a boy who was between the ages of 12 and 16, and at least four years younger than her. The indictment charges her with sexual touching of the genitals, as well as penetrative and oral contact. This allegedly occurred on two separate occasions between December 2021 and April 30, 2022, in the Jackson County portion of the Qualla Boundary. 

These alleged encounters account for four of the five charges Crowe faces. The fifth stems from a June 10 conversation with a special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigations in which she allegedly said her social media contact with the minor victim was limited to accepting a friend request. 

“The statement and representation was false, because as Rachel Paige Crowe then and there knew, she had communicated through Snapchat with the minor victim on multiple occasions,” the indictment reads. 

The indictment was filed on Oct. 4 and entered into the system Oct. 6. It was sealed until Crowe’s arrest on Oct. 21. 

Following her arrest, Crowe had an initial appearance before the U.S. District Court in Asheville at 11:10 a.m. Oct. 21. She was then booked into the Transylvania County Jail at 1:45 p.m. She remains in jail until her arraignment hearing scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 26. Her case is in federal jurisdiction because she is an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and the alleged crime occurred on tribal lands.