Police: Woman broadcast sex abuse of children online
SPOKANE, Wash. -- Police have arrested a woman accused of abusing several children, including a 2-week-old baby, and broadcasting the acts live on web cams.
Investigators say Pamela Ortega of Warden has admitted to sexually abusing several children, including her 8-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son.
Grant County detectives became aware of the abuse in April when a source in Europe contacted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and said Ortega had offered her daughter to him for sex.
Ortega told police she connected with several men online via video chat. One of the men, using a web cam would "show her how he has sex with his daughters ... ages 8 and 11," then "(Ortega) would demonstrate on (her daughter) in return," court document said.
Ortega also performed sexual acts upon her son for men via webcam, and forced both of her children to sexually stimulate her as "two or three other guys … on the Internet at the time" watched, she told investigators. She said she also sexually abused a 2-week-old infant at the behest of a man watching on a webcam, but stopped when the baby began crying.
The accused mother told detectives she was "peer-pressured into doing" such acts by men watching online. She said each incident lasted "between five and 15 minutes," the documents said.
Ortega also forced her children to sexually stimulate her and said that those acts were watched by "two or three other guys … on the Internet at the time."
Ortega admitted she set up sexual liaisons for her children with men she met online, but said the actual meetings never took place. Some of the men involved in these sexual shows live in the Tri-Cities and Spokane, while others live in other countries, detectives said.
Ortega, who has no prior criminal record, is being held in the Grant County Jail on $200,000 bail. She is being held in isolation for her own protection.
The children have been taken into protective custody. A federal investigation of Ortega is ongoing.
KXLY-TV typically does not define a sex abuse victim's relationship to his alleged abuser if doing so could reveal the identify of the victim. However, it chose to make an exception in this case. KXLY explained the reasons behind its decision in a blog post.
Investigators say Pamela Ortega of Warden has admitted to sexually abusing several children, including her 8-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son.
Grant County detectives became aware of the abuse in April when a source in Europe contacted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and said Ortega had offered her daughter to him for sex.
Ortega told police she connected with several men online via video chat. One of the men, using a web cam would "show her how he has sex with his daughters ... ages 8 and 11," then "(Ortega) would demonstrate on (her daughter) in return," court document said.
Ortega also performed sexual acts upon her son for men via webcam, and forced both of her children to sexually stimulate her as "two or three other guys … on the Internet at the time" watched, she told investigators. She said she also sexually abused a 2-week-old infant at the behest of a man watching on a webcam, but stopped when the baby began crying.
The accused mother told detectives she was "peer-pressured into doing" such acts by men watching online. She said each incident lasted "between five and 15 minutes," the documents said.
Ortega also forced her children to sexually stimulate her and said that those acts were watched by "two or three other guys … on the Internet at the time."
Ortega admitted she set up sexual liaisons for her children with men she met online, but said the actual meetings never took place. Some of the men involved in these sexual shows live in the Tri-Cities and Spokane, while others live in other countries, detectives said.
Ortega, who has no prior criminal record, is being held in the Grant County Jail on $200,000 bail. She is being held in isolation for her own protection.
The children have been taken into protective custody. A federal investigation of Ortega is ongoing.
KXLY-TV typically does not define a sex abuse victim's relationship to his alleged abuser if doing so could reveal the identify of the victim. However, it chose to make an exception in this case. KXLY explained the reasons behind its decision in a blog post.