A Tri-Cities real estate agent pleaded not guilty in Benton County Superior Court on Monday to a single misdemeanor charge of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes.
Charging documents allege Carolyn Celski, 38, of Kennewick, exchanged several text messages with a 14-year-old boy about having sex starting around Dec. 5, 2022.
At her preliminary hearing this week, Benton County Judge Joseph Burrowes issued Celski a no-contact order with the victim. She is also barred from any unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 18, either in-person or online, unless they are relatives.
Burrowes also weighed an order that would have required Celski to stay out of areas with children activities — such as daycares, playgrounds or parks — but declined to issue it at this point.
Following the hearing, Celski was booked into Benton County Jail for an hour and released on her own recognizance. She’s also been ordered to relinquish her passport to the Benton County Sheriff’s Office.
The court found her to not be a flight risk. She does not have a previous criminal history.
A trial date has been set for Dec. 9.
“We are happy the judge went with the recommended conditions and didn’t feel pressured by the spotlight that’s been placed on this case,” said her defense attorney, Deric Orr, in a statement. “The conditions that were set strike a balance between the public’s interests and Ms. Celski’s rights as a citizen that’s been accused of a crime.”
Celski and her husband Jason Celski, own Celski and Associates, a property management and real estate sales firm. They manage dozens of homes, apartments and commercial properties across the Tri-Cities, according to the company’s website. Carolyn Celski is a state-licensed real estate broker, a certification she’s held since 2013.
Jason Celski also operates his own law firm in Kennewick. Prosecutors in the case have requested that an out-of-county judge oversee future hearings due to Jason’s ties to the law community, but have deemed Burrowes impartial and unbiased to the matter.
Social media messages
Court documents filed last month show Celski admitted to Benton County deputies in a Dec. 30, 2022, interview to chatting with the teenage victim about having sex over the span of a few days before deleting the messages and all her social media.
On about Dec. 10, Celski called Ryan Kelly, a sergeant with the Kennewick Police Department, to ask for “personal and professional” advice.
Kelly coached a sports team with her son and the victim, according to court documents.
She told the sergeant she “had been texting with one of the players on the team and her husband, Jason Celski, found out about it and left her over it,” according to court documents. She allegedly told Kelly she “hadn’t sent any photos or done anything physically with the child.” She also admitted to texting with another child from the team, court documents say.
Public records confirm the couple separated in late 2022, but later reconciled.
Kelly recounted to a Benton County detective that Celski admitted that the victim “said something to the effect of asking where they could meet to hook up and the defendant responded with ‘Car?’ and an emoji of a person holding their ups up,” documents say. She said she had “lost some weight recently and has enjoyed the attention.”
“Sgt. Kelly advised the defendant reported that her husband is very upset and ‘thinks I want to f*** a 14 year old,’” court documents read. “
She had admitted to the victim’s parents that she “let things go too far.”
The teen told investigators that Celski first messaged him “out of the blue” on Instagram about a trip the sports team was on. They began talking, according to court documents, and she asked him if he had ever had sex.
“(The victim) reported that he is a virgin, but wanted to act cool so he told the defendant that he has had sex. (The victim) advised he responded to the defendant asking her if she wanted to do it and she replied ‘sadly, yes,’” court documents read.
The teen said they intended to have sex but they didn’t have a specific plan. They had talked about her picking him up from school but that hadn’t happened.
The messages reportedly ended on Dec. 7 or 8, 2022, when Celski allegedly texted him that she was “out of line” and that they couldn’t talk anymore. She also asked him to delete her messages, which he did, said the documents.
However, the teen’s parents were able to give investigators some screenshots of the messages between Carolyn Celski and their son, according to court documents. No screenshots were included with the court documents. When Benton County detectives interviewed Carolyn Celski, she admitted to having the conversation with the teen when she asked if he’d ever had sex.
“The defendant reported she told (the victim) that he wouldn’t know what to do with her if he tried and that (the victim) responded that she could teach him,” according to court documents. “The defendant advised she couldn’t recall where the conversation went from there.”
