A 25-year-old woman was sentenced Friday to at least two years in prison for having sex with a preteen Columbia boy, who was being pimped by his mother.

Ashley L. Banks of York was charged last year with having a four-month sexual relationship with the 12-year-old boy. In August, she pleaded guilty to statutory sexual assault, a felony, and misdemeanor corruption of minors.

On Friday, Lancaster County Judge Jeffery Wright sentenced Banks to 2 to 4 years in prison, followed by 4 years of probation.

Banks had sex with the boy on a "nightly basis" from August 2005 to December 2005, according to a police affidavit filed by Columbia Detective Daniel Bell. She paid the boy's mother in exchange for the sexual encounters, the affidavit says.

The mother was charged in July 2007 with pimping the boy. A Lancaster County jury found that woman guilty in September of three offenses, including criminal conspiracy to rape of a child. She is to be sentenced Dec. 2.

Cory Miller, Banks' attorney, said his client was a key witness for the Commonwealth at the mother's trial. In exchange for Banks' testimony, the Commonwealth and Miller negotiated a charge reduction in her case. Banks was originally charged with rape of a child, which carries a 5 to 10 year minimum prison sentence, Miller said. That charge was reduced to statutory sexual assault.

Police became aware of the arranged trysts in September 2006. The boy told a counselor at Lancaster County Children and Youth Agency that he was being "prostituted out by his mother," Bell writes in the affidavit.

"His mother knew about the incidents and had (Banks) pay her money for the acts to continue," Bell writes in the document.

In December 2006, Bell was shown a letter written by Banks to the boy that detailed their sexual relationship, according to the affidavit.

A psychological exam determined Banks has a "low-level IQ" and a history of

sexual abuse, Miller said. Banks had her first child at

age 12, according to her attorney.

"She truly loved and perhaps still loves this young man," Miller said after the hearing. "With that said, obviously (her behavior) is not acceptable."

"This sentence gives her a chance to reflect and change her life so she can be a productive member of society," Miller said.

E-mail: bhambright@lnpnews.com