Utah woman sent to jail for taking nude photos of teen daughter

DUCHESNE — A woman who admitted to taking nude pictures of her teenage daughter so the girl could send them to an Oregon man has been sentenced to jail.

Judge Lyle Anderson sentenced the woman Thursday in 8th District Court to a prison term of zero-to-5 years. Anderson then suspended the prison sentence and ordered the woman to serve 75 days in the Duchesne County Jail.

"It's really hard for me to imagine how a mother would do this," Anderson told the 35-year-old woman, who said nothing when given the chance to speak.

A 13-year-old Duchesne County girl told investigators in April that a family friend living in Oregon gave her an iPhone and asked her to use it to send him nude photos of herself, according to court records. The girl said she couldn't figure out how to make the phone work, so she asked her mother for help.

The mother took three nude photos of her daughter, even though she knew they would be sent to the 30-year-old family friend, court records state.

The woman's name is not being published to protect her daughter's identity.

The woman was initially charged with three counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony. She pleaded guilty in December to child abuse, a third-degree felony, and agreed to testify against the man accused of soliciting the photos from her daughter.

The man was charged with sexual exploitation of a minor and extradited to Utah. In January, a jury of five men and three women acquitted him of all charges.

Duchesne County Attorney Stephen Foote said Thursday that the woman's cooperation during the trial was "the only reason" he didn't object to the sentence she received.

In addition to jail time, the woman was ordered to serve 30 days home confinement, spend 36 months on probation and pay a $950 fine. She must also complete any treatment recommended by her probation officer or the state Division of Child and Family Services.

The woman, who no longer has custody of her children, was ordered to report to the jail March 9 to begin serving her sentence.

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