Two accused of buying, selling child for porn

HAMMOND, Ind. (AP) -- A Gary mother has been indicted on child pornography charges after investigators say she accepted money so a man could use her 18-month-old daughter in sexually explicit videos.

The 24-year-old woman is charged with selling her child for the production of child pornography and permitting the child to participate in its production, according to a federal indictment filed Wednesday. The Associated Press is not using the woman's name to protect the identity of her daughter.

Christopher Bour, 39, of Gary, is charged with purchasing a child for production of child pornography, producing child pornography and possessing child pornography featuring a minor under age 12.

The two were ordered held without bond, The Times of Munster reported (http://bit.ly/12veaNv ), and are scheduled to be arraigned in federal court Monday.

Attorney Ashwin Cattamanchi, who is representing Bour, declined comment on the charges when contacted by The Associated Press on Thursday. A message seeking comment also was left Thursday for Visvaldis Kupsis, the mother's attorney.

It wasn't immediately clear how the mother and Bour met. The federal complaint against the mother filed Feb. 22 remained sealed Thursday.

A probable cause affidavit said the FBI began investigating Bour on Feb. 13 after a masseuse alerted agents that a client had asked her to videotape him performing sex acts on a toddler.

According to the affidavit, an FBI agent posing as the masseuse then texted Bour. Bour also graphically described via text messages the sex acts he wanted to perform on the child and asked the woman he thought he was communicating with if she wanted to take part, the affidavit states.

When asked if he trusted the toddler's mother, Bour responded that he'd "done it several times" starting when the child was 4 months old and that the mother would not be present, the affidavit said.

Bour told investigators that the text exchange was "fantasy" and that he had never had sexual contact with minors.

The criminal complaint says investigators found numerous files of child pornography on Bour's computer.
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   Information from: The Times, http://www.thetimesonline.com