This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A Roosevelt mother will spend time in jail for helping her 13-year-old daughter take naked photos to send to a 30-year-old Oregon man.
The woman was sentenced Thursday in 8th District Court to serve 75 days in the Duchesne County Jail. The woman had been facing a prison term of up to five years.
Her jail sentence is set to begin March 9.
The 35-year-old mother, who the Tribune is not naming to protect the identity of her child, accepted a deal in December and pleaded guilty a third-degree felony count of child abuse in exchange for her testimony at the trial of the man accused of receiving the photos.
After denying he ever received the photos in front of an eight-person jury last month, the man was found not-guilty of all charges including second-degree felony sexual exploitation and misdemeanor enticing a minor over the Internet.
The mother told officials she knew the man to whom her daughter wanted to send naked photographs. She called him a "very good friend of the family," said that he and her teenager "were going to wait until she was 18 years old before they had a sexual relationship," according to court documents.
The mother even double-checked with her daughter before taking the photos, to make sure the girl was positive she wanted to pose naked, the documents state.
The 13-year-old said she was sure, but there was one problem — she didn't know how to work her new iPhone, which authories said had been sent to her by the Oregon man. The photos, the documents state, were meant to "just to keep [the man] happy."
The mother, who no longer has custody of her children, was also ordered Thursday to spend 30 days under house arrest, 36 months on probation and pay a $950 fine.
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