Mom charged with taping sex abuse of her 2 young children, selling videos, posting them on Snapchat
A 28-year-old mother from New River, Arizona, is behind bars after being accused of performing sexual acts with and sexually molesting her two children, ages three and six, and then selling those taped molestations and posting them on the Internet. Azcentral shared Maricopa County Superior Court records stating that the bad mom, Keri Harwood, was charged with “two counts of sexual conduct with a minor, five counts of sexual exploitation of a child for recording the videos, and five counts of sexual exploitation of a child for selling the videos.” A neighbor who was playing Pokemon Go with Harwood is being credited with discovering those sexually explicit videos in Harwood’s Gmail and then reporting Harwood to the authorities in Maricopa County.
“The neighbor was able to access Harwood’s email account because she gave him her Pokemon Go login information and asked him to catch Pokemon for her,” according to Azcentral. Due to poor internet connectivity, Harwood had shared her email account with her neighbor. In an August 16 press release, Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone stated: “Horrible acts of child abuse like this can be stopped with the help of alert members of our community. If you see something unusual, contact authorities so that we can end this exploitation.”
Some of the charges levied against Harwood have to do with Harwood selling her child sex abuse videos to a man she met through Tumblr. Harwood told detectives she had produced the videos for this man. The two engaged in voyeurism for money via Snapchat. Harwood claimed the man offered to pay her hundreds of dollars if she would live stream sex acts with the children via Snapchat. Harwood said that she desperately needed the money and did not want to disappoint this man.
“Harwood allegedly told police she met a man online and began masturbating for him during livestreams on Snapchat, which she was paid for. The man then allegedly told Harwood to send him videos of her performing sex acts the children.” ~ Fox 10
Following her August 13 arrest, Harwood was booked into the 4th Avenue Jail and her children were taken to Child Help for forensic interviews. Detectives believe there are at least five videos of the crimes. The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) is pursuing warrants to arrest the man, believed to be living in Texas, to whom she sent the videos.
“Our mobile, hyper-connected world makes it easier for predators to exploit families who do not have the knowledge needed to protect loved ones,” warned Sheriff Penzone. “Adults with children in the home need to stay current with cyber trends and regularly check internet usage not just in the household but on phones for any unusual or concerning activity.” ~ MCSO Press Release
Those videos allegedly depict Harwood bathing with and sexually abusing the two youngsters. According to Fox 10 in Phoenix, after police showed up at her home on August 13, Harwood admitted to sexually molesting the children on five separate occasions. Harwood said she would sexually abuse her children while her husband was at work. Harwood remains incarcerated on a $150,000 bond.
Written by: Ace News Today Staff
