Editor's note: The following story includes disturbing descriptions of child abuse.



A Columbia woman arrested on federal child pornography charges should be held without bond as a flight risk and danger to children, prosecutors argued in a motion filed Thursday.

Brittany Bailey, 29, was arrested on a federal warrant signed Monday in Washington, D.C., charging her with being a part of a national ring of people who shared child pornography and graphic descriptions of child rape in an online chat service.

“The Government submits that there is clear and convincing evidence that there are no conditions which the court could place on the defendant’s release which would reasonably assure her future appearance in court and the safety of the community,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley Turner wrote in the motion filed in the Western District of Missouri.

A detention hearing for Bailey is set for Tuesday in Jefferson City.

The complaint filed against Bailey names six other people in places ranging from Spokane, Washington, to Sarasota, Florida. The investigation, a joint effort by the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI, began when an undercover officer became a part of a chat group called “Taboo Parents” group on KIK, an online messaging application. The undercover officer became an administrator of the group and identified 54 individuals who participated at some point.

“In the ‘Taboo Parents’ KIK group, moderators and users discussed the sexual abuse of children and encouraged members to post and share with ‘no limits,’” Alix Skelton, a special agent for the FBI, wrote in an affidavit.

The abused children depicted in the videos ranged from infants and toddlers to post-pubescent teens, Skelton wrote.

In addition to chatting about illegal images of child rape and sharing videos that included images of herself engaged in bestiality, Bailey created a separate group that she administered, Skelton wrote.

The group was called KinkNoJudgePrivate. One of the rules was: “All kinks welcome, send child stuff in PM, so the group isn’t shut down and people aren’t spooked who aren’t into that.”

Bailey was traced through internet addresses and user information to her home on Sycamore Lane.

If convicted, Bailey faces a minimum of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

rkeller@columbiatribune.com

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