A father in California has been arrested and hit with sex trafficking charges after officials alleged that he helped his own daughter sell pornographic images of herself online.
Scott Davis was arrested on Nov. 15 after investigators of the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office served him with a search warrant, the department said in a press release posted to Facebook.
The department began investigation when word came to them that a teenage girl had raked in around $40,000 selling nude images of herself online.
In the release, the Sheriff’s office said that in August “Sex Crimes Detectives in conjunction with the High Tech Crimes Unit began investigating a 16 year old female who was allegedly selling nude photographs online.”
They said that the teen has a “very well known online presence on a variety of social media platforms.”
The department did not say when the 16-year-old first began selling her lewd photos.
But then they found more. During the investigation, officers also discovered that the 16-year-old girl had a bit of help from a shocking source, which only adds to the growing sex trafficking problem in the U.S.A..
“Detectives also discovered that the female’s father, Scott Davis, was aware of the online activity and was complicit in the profit,” the department added.
If convicted, should he receive maximum jail time?
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The department did not elaborate on the level of complicity and just how Davis aided his daughter in selling pornographic images of herself.
After the search warrant was served on Davis’ home, he was arrested and charged with several offenses “including sex trafficking, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and child abuse.”
The Mountain Democrat added that Davis also faces charges of “procuring a minor under 16 for a sex act, pimping for prostitution and using a minor to create obscene matter for commercial purposes.”
The outlet went on to report that the sheriff’s department has not yet filed any charges against the teen girl.
Fox News reported that Davis is being held on a $4 million bail. The Mountain Democrat added that he was arraigned on Nov. 17 and appeared in court on Monday.
Julie Bornhoeft, who works for a group that supplies support for victims of sexual assault, told CBS News that this incident is particularly shocking.
“This is someone dependent on a parent,” Bornhoeft said of the 16-year-old girl at the center of the investigation. “We will see cases that they’re carrying two phones — one is the phone the teens have, one is the phone the trafficker expects them to answer and be available.”
“Seeing a parent involved is less common certainly.”
The Sheriff’s department noted that the investigation is still ongoing and asked anyone with information to contact Det. Chris Macres at [email protected] or (530) 957-5227 (texting available).
