PROVO, Utah — A Provo mother has been arrested for allegedly sexually abusing and trafficking her 10-year-old daughter, with court documents alleging that continual abuse occurred over the course of several years.
The 38-year-old woman was arrested Wednesday and faces charges on two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, 29 counts of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, 41 counts of human trafficking of a child, and 2 counts of sodomy on a child.
Provo Police received a tip through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) cyber tipline that a mother was sexually abusing her daughter and uploading the videos to Kik, an instant messaging app. The platform then sent the files uploaded by the user to the NCMEC, which also included the user's account information that confirmed they were located within Provo.
Using the information provided, detectives identified the person who uploaded the videos as the Provo mother.
The woman agreed to talk to police after they served a warrant at her home, where she stated that she had used Kik to have "adult sex talk" that would include sending videos of a sexual nature. When asked by detectives if someone else was ever in the videos, she admitted to using her daughter in the videos as well.
The mother told investigators that the messages were a way for her to get positive attention from someone that wasn't bullying, adding that she had met with one man, identified as "Chris," around 10 times in the past. SHe said when she and her daughter met "Chris," would sexually assault the young girl, beginning when the the child was 5 or 6 years old.
"Chris" would pay the woman money, usually $20 a night, she told detectives, to make materials involving her daughter and herself, and send them for payment.
While searching through the mother's phone, investigators allegedly found hundreds of videos, including one of an infant the woman claimed was sent to her by another man named "Shawn."
When asked by detectives when the last time she and Chris had sexually abused her daughter, she said it occurred Tuesday in Springville when they met Chris in a hotel room in exchange for a laptop and $125.
The woman is now being held without bail by court order.
