Utah woman arrested in disturbing case of sexual abuse of her daughter

PROVO, Utah (KSL.com) — A Provo woman has been booked into the Utah County Jail for investigation into 76 felony counts of sexual abuse involving her 10-year-old daughter. Police say a man paid the mother multiple times to sexually abuse the girl.

The 38-year-old woman was arrested Wednesday on investigation into 42 counts of human trafficking of a child, 30 counts of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child and two counts of sodomy of a child. KSL.com is not naming the woman at this time to protect the identity of the child.

The investigation began Wednesday when Provo police received a tip that a woman was uploading videos of herself sexually abusing her young daughter to Kik, according to a police booking affidavit. Detectives were able to identify the woman and served a search warrant at her home.

When the woman was questioned by police, she admitted to sending sexually explicit videos of herself and the young girl to a man.

“(She) said he forces her to do it and threatens her by saying something along the lines of ‘he’ll do what he has to do.’ (The woman) stated he never made any explicit threats. (She) told me she has been taking pictures and videos of the victim for (the man) for years,” the affidavit states. “(The woman) said she wanted positive attention from someone who wasn’t bullying.”

The Provo woman admitted to meeting the man in person several times over the past five or six years and each time the man sexually abused the girl, the affidavit said. The woman told police the man “also purchased gifts and treats for the victim to perform sexual acts. (She) also said he sometimes paid her extra money so she could get hotel rooms for them.”

The woman alleged that the last time the girl was sexually abused by the man was on Tuesday at a Springville hotel, while the mother “sat on a couch in the hotel room and watched it all,” the affidavit said. The man allegedly gave the woman “a laptop and $125 as payment for allowing him to abuse the child.”

According to police, “a total of 41 transactions occurred between (the woman) and the buyer, and on one occasion she stated he paid in cash.”

The investigation into the man accused of abusing the girl was still ongoing on Thursday.