Ericīs brother John and his wife Maggie went through some rough times, so they decided to send their teenage daughter to live with Eric and Stephanie for a while. It was very un expecting to them as they had no idea she was coming out to Los Angeles. Jessica moved into the mansion. Meanwhile, Eric hired a collage intern, Dylan Shaw, to work at Forrester Creations.
Jessica started falling for Dylan, but was saddened to learn Eric had asked Dylan to keep an eye on her. John and Maggie continued having problems and asked Eric and Stephanie to become Jessicaīs legal guardians. They accepted. Stephanie didnīt like Jessica hanging out with the older Dylan and realized they had made love. Stephanie had Dylan arrested for statutory rape and Eric fired him from Forrester. Jessica wanted Eric not to prosecute Dylan, but he warned Dylan heīd better watch his step.
Sally found out what was going on and hired Dylan at Spectra. The district attorney met with Eric and Stephanie and took their case despite Jessica saying she willingly slept with Dylan. Sally hired Connor to help Dylan as Stephanie told Jessica not to see Dylan at least until the trial was over. Thanks to Sally, Stephanie found out Jess & Dylan was secretly meeting. Sally told Jessica to hightail back home to Iowa. But she wouldnīt. Stephanie discovered Sally had Dylan working for her and Eric blasted Sally for encouraging Jessieīs and Dylanīs romance.
Dylan wasnīt to visit Jessica at home, but did anyway. Eric, who temporarily had moved into the mansion again, found Dylan there and the two men got into a fight. Jessica ordered Eric to stop. Eric tried to explain that Jess was too young to understand love. But Jessica told Eric he wasnīt in position to judge her since he had been married to 3 women in the last 5 years. Her words hurt Eric. So he testified in court that Dylan took advantage of his niece. Jessica suggested to Dylan they would run away and he agreed. But on their way out of town, Dylan turned back to Los Angeles as Jessica was sleeping. Stephanie testified in court that Dylan had acted responsible when he didnīt run away with Jessie. The court freed Dylan. Jessica made up with Eric and Stephanie and decided to put her relationship with Dylan on hold for a while.
Then, Maggie showed up in Los Angeles to take her daughter back to Iowa. But Jessica didnīt want that. She wanted to stay in L.A. Instead, Maggie and Jessica both stayed in town with Stephanie.