A Red Deer mother and licensed daycare worker has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison for using her four-year-old son to make child pornography.

The woman, 43 years old at the time she was charged, pleaded guilty to sexual assault, making child pornography and distributing child pornography.

"Her son is going to be victimized over and over and over because of what she has done," said Crown prosecutor Carolyn Ayre.

"She has moral culpability for these charges."

The mother apologized when asked if she wanted to address the court.

"I am so, so sorry. I really do. I have a lot of remorse and shame," she said.

"My son deserves a lot better."

The mother can't be named to protect the identity of her son.

The woman was arrested in June 2016 in an operation that involved Canadian police and authorities in the United States. Police arrested a man in Idaho with whom she was sharing the child porn over the internet.

Peter Allen Cash was found with dozens of videos and "hundreds of photos of child pornography on [his] phone," according to an affidavit filed at a Canyon County court in Idaho.

Peter Allen Cash was arrested in May 2016 by Idaho police. Information from U.S. authorities later led to the arrest of a woman in Red Deer. (Canyon County Jail)

Idaho police were able to identify the Red Deer woman's son in some of the images and, when they learned Cash was planning to travel to Canada, moved quickly to arrest him and contacted Canadian authorities.

Parents with children at the daycare where the woman worked were notified of the charges but police said there was no evidence any children other than the woman's son were abused.

Authorities in Red Deer removed the boy, who was four years old at the time, from his mother last year and placed him in the care of other family members.

Sentence has restrictions

The woman had no previous criminal record and was not previously known to police.

Her sentence Thursday also includes restrictions on contact with children under 16 and internet access.

Cash pleaded guilty to nine felony child pornography charges and was sentenced last September, according to Idaho court records. Each count carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison.