The mother reportedly informed the police that on September 3, she observed her daughter’s latest face-to-face encounter with the registered sex offender. Additionally, she admitted to sending him sexually explicit videos of her daughter in exchange for payment.
A 38-year-old woman has been arrested in Provo, Utah and charged with 76 total child sex crimes involving her 10-year-old daughter. She is booked into Utah County Jail. Also arrested was Chris Seamann, 52, a registered sex offender who was picked up in Mesquite, Nevada.
The mother’s name has been withheld from local news outlets in hopes of keeping the identity of the victim unknown. Seamann has been on the National Sex Offender Registry since a 1993 conviction for first-degree forcible sexual assault in Nebraska.
KTVX reports that of those 76 charges the mother is facing, 42 are first-degree felony charges of human trafficking of a child. Additionally, the woman faces 30 counts of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, 2 counts of sodomy on a child, and 2 counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child.
Seamann has reportedly been charged with first-degree felony sodomy on a child, first-degree felony rape of a child, three counts of second-degree felony sexual abuse of a child, and third-degree felony lewdness involving a child. He was arrested in Mesquite, Nevada on September 6. An expedition warrant was requested by police.
According to police, as reported by KTVX, it was a cyber tip from Kik that triggered their investigation. Kik is an online messaging platform. The woman was reportedly sending sexually explicit videos of herself and the girl to Seamann, according to the arrest affidavit seen by KSL.
Working alongside the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), police in Provo investigated the mother’s social media accounts and determined that her daughter was similar enough in appearance to the girl in the videos to move forward with their case.
When questioned by police, per the affidavit, the woman told them she liked using Kik for adult purposes and for attention from “someone that wasn’t bullying.” She did not deny her association with Seamann, either, per police. In fact, it was quite the opposite.
Years of Alleged Abuse
According to authorities, the woman told them that she and her daughter had met Seamann approximately 10 times over the past five to six years. She told police he “would also buy the victim gifts and treats for sexual acts,” and would “pay her extra money sometimes so she can get the hotel rooms for them.”
“(She) said that he makes her do it and threatens her by saying something along the lines of ‘he’ll do what he needs to do.’ (The woman) stated that he’s never made any explicit threats,” an officer reported, per the affidavit. “(She) told me that she’s been taking pictures and videos of the victim for years for (Seamann).”
She claimed that Seamann would send her gifts and money for the videos, but also told police “she feared for her safety if she did not comply” with his demands, per KSL. Police stated “there were a total of 41 transactions” between them, “and one time she said he paid in cash.”
The woman told police their most recent in-person encounter occurred on September 3 in a Springville hotel. Police reported the woman “outlined [the] instance in graphic detail,” per KSL, saying that she “was sitting on a bench seat in the hotel room watching all of this.”
The mother told authorities that Seamann would generally pay her $20 “per session” with her daughter, according to the affidavit. Police further reported that on September 3, the woman received a laptop and $125 payment
The investigation is ongoing.
If you are experiencing or witness child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. If you believe a child is in immediate danger, call 911.
via: TooFab
