A woman in Boston was arrested Wednesday on child pornography charges and police are asking citizens who believe they or their family was a victim of the suspect to contact them.
“The woman, 36-year-old Stephanie Lak of Roxbury, broke down in court as prosecutors said that she, a longtime nanny, possessed and distributed child pornography,” NBC Boston reported.
A prosecutor stated it was clear the suspect had access to kids and “has a long history of being a nanny and babysitter.”
The outlet continued:
Lak was arrested after an investigation prompted by a tip from the messaging app company Kik forwarded by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in March, prosecutors said in a court filing. Her home was raided this month, and phones and a computer were seized, according to prosecutors. Police interviewed her Tuesday and she allegedly admitted to using Kik and the username at the center of the investigation, and sharing about 100 files containing material showing child sexual abuse, as well as discussing the abuse in with other users.
The suspect faces two charges including possession of child pornography and distributing material of a child in a sex act.
The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office detailed the case in a press release Wednesday:
The prosecution team will continue to carefully gather and scrutinize the evidence in this case. As part of the investigation, which is active and on-going, investigators discovered communications from Lak in which she identifies herself as a nanny and was in a virtual conversation with a caregiver from Minnesota encouraging him to harm children in his care and, in fact, volunteered to assist him in doing so.
“There is no bigger betrayal than people tasked with teaching, protecting, or caring for children sexually exploiting and violating them. And to be very clear, possessing and disseminating child pornography hurts children,” District Attorney Rachael Rollins said.
“Do not be fooled. Each still image or video chronicles an act of violence, sexual assault and/or rape. And when those images or videos are shared with other pedophiles online, that child is abused and victimized in perpetuity,” she noted.
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