A 36-year-old Kennewick woman is accused of sexually assaulting a teen boy from Connell since November.

Blanca Ester Negrete was arrested Tuesday by Kennewick police and booked into the Benton County jail on suspicion of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes and sexual assault.

Police began investigating Negrete after sexual conversations were heard on recorded phone calls between Negrete and the teen, said Kennewick police Sgt. Ken Lattin.

The teen was in the Benton Franklin juvenile detention center at the time the calls were made.

Negrete made a brief appearance Wednesday in Benton County Superior Court, but will return to court today to enter a plea.

She is being held in the Benton County jail on $100,000 bail and asked a judge to lower it Wednesday, but Judge Carrie Runge said that could be requested by her court-appointed attorney.