Sentencing Set For Grandma Accused In Internet Sex Case

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. -- A grandmother from Clifton, Colo., who recorded children performing sexual acts on her before transmitting the images over the Internet was expected to learn her sentence Monday.

The 50-year-old woman pleaded guilty earlier this year to felony counts of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust, and sexual exploitation of a child.

Slaughenhaupt’s arrest came after the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement contacted the Mesa County Sheriff’s Department concerning an Internet child pornography case in Toronto, Canada, part of a child porn crackdown called Project Camelot.

An ICE agent told sheriff’s investigators that hundreds of child pornography images had been found on a man’s computer and agents were trying to identify the victims, according to the arrest affidavit

Investigators said pictures distributed by a suspect in Canada were sent by someone with the screen name "shortstockdeb57." That person was later identified as Slaughenhaupt, according to her arrest affidavit.

Slaughenhaupt had the two girls, one of whom is disabled, touch her breasts and other private areas. A chat text revealed a Canadian man and Slaughenhaupt engaged in several sexually explicit conversations about the sex acts, according to court records. Slaughenhaupt admitted in an interview with investigators that she had molested the girls, police said.

When social services took her five grandchildren into protective custody, they said the home they were living in was littered with feces and moldy food. The children lived there with their mother and grandparents.

The children were returned to the home in March.

District Judge Richard Gurley delayed a hearing scheduled for last week to allow both sides time to review options for sentencing.

Slaughenhaupt could be sentenced to a maximum of four years in prison.