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Parents defend woman who posed as a boy

Father claims alleged victim from Springboro knew his daughter was a girl.

This undated photo released by the Warren County Sheriff's Office in Ohio shows Patricia Dye. Authorities say Dye pretended to be a 14-year-old boy so she could have a sexual relationship with a teenage girl. Dye is charged with unlawful sexual conduct with and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. A Warren County Judge sent the case to a grand jury on Tuesday, July 6, 2010.

Handout This undated photo released by the Warren County Sheriff's Office in Ohio shows Patricia Dye. Authorities say Dye pretended to be a 14-year-old boy so she could have a sexual relationship with a teenage girl. Dye is charged with unlawful sexual conduct with and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. A Warren County Judge sent the case to a grand jury on Tuesday, July 6, 2010.

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By Lawrence Budd, Staff Writer Updated 1:24 PM Monday, July 12, 2010

FRANKLIN — The parents of Patricia Dye, the woman who is accused of posing as a teenage boy in order to carry on a relationship with a 16-year-old Springboro girl, defended their daughter Thursday, July 8, during an interview at the motel where they live.

“She knew she was a girl,” Ralph Dye, Patricia’s father, said about the teenage girl who was found by police on June 24.

Patricia Dye, 31, of Franklin remained in jail Thursday on $100,000 bond, charged with corruption of a minor and unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. The alleged illegal sex occurred in May at the girl’s apartment home in Springboro, according to Sgt. Bob Marchiny of the Springboro Police Department.

Marchiny, as well as the girl’s family and friends, say Dye portrayed herself as a 14-year-old boy named Matthew Abrams.

The investigation began after police found the girl wandering the streets of Franklin, three days after running away from home on her 16th birthday. Dye was arrested June 30.

Seated Thursday on the bed in the family’s hotel room, Dye’s mother said the alleged victim slept on a blanket next to the bed in the room, rather than with her daughter in a van as the victim’s friends and family claimed.

“Patricia and I slept on the bed,” Dorothy Dye said. “Nothing ever happened.”

Ralph Dye said he believed his daughter was innocent of the charges.

Both parents said Dye had fallen in with the wrong crowd.

Dye’s mother said she’d taken calls from school officials in Lebanon in the 1990s about her daughter pretending to be a boy.

“She always wears slacks. There’s nothing wrong with that,” the mother said.

On Thursday, Dye had been transferred to the Butler County Jail pending consideration of her case by a Warren County grand jury.

Warren County jail officials said the transfer was probably related to crowding at their facility.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2261 or lbudd@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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