Dispute over Facebook chats led woman to distribute 'heinous' fliers, mother says

SALT LAKE CITY — A cozy relationship between a teenage girl and her best friend's mother and two parents' ongoing dispute over "inappropriate" online chats led Danette Stark to make and distribute "heinous" fliers around a middle school campus, the mother of the alleged victim says.

Rebecca, who withheld her last name from reporters, said she read inappropriate chats in January between her 13-year-old daughter and Stark, 37. The two would chat on Facebook late at night and Stark confided secrets in the teen, Rebecca said.

"So I asked Mrs. Stark to stop and she got angry with me," the mother said outside a 3rd District courtroom Tuesday.

The back-and-forth between the two parents led to arguments, angry text messages and obscene gestures, Rebecca said.

But the dispute culminated in May when, law enforcement officials said, Stark used Photoshop to put the 13-year-old girl's face on the body of a woman committing bestiality.

Stark was charged with 18 second-degree felony counts of sexual exploitation of a minor for allegedly creating the image then distributing the fliers of the image and derogatory statements about the girl around her middle school. Salt Lake County District Attorney Lohra Miller has said the images constitute child pornography and has called the fliers "heinous."

Stark has said she made 30 copies of the fliers, but only 18 have been found.

"I don't know how it got to this and I don't know what to expect next," Rebecca said in court Tuesday as a judge considered whether to release Stark pending her next court date. "I would like it if she wasn't where she could reach us."

While prosecutors did not object to releasing Stark, Judge Denise Lindberg said she was "not inclined" to release her.

A resolution hearing was set for July 27.

e-mail: afalk@desnews.com