Pierce County babysitter charged with 4 counts of child pornography
Apr 24, 2019, 12:38 PM | Updated: 12:47 pm
(Pierce County Sheriff's Office)
(Pierce County Sheriff's Office)
The Pierce County Sheriff’s Office has arrested an 18-year-old babysitter and charged her with four counts of child pornography.
“We became aware of this from a national organization that sent us an IP address in Pierce County that was trading in something called ‘baby and infant porn.’ Which, in all my years, I didn’t know that existed,” said Ed Troyer with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office. “In doing some research over the last couple days, and working with our detectives, it’s been very dark around here over the last couple days.”
Victoria DelCarmen, 18, has been charged with four counts of possession of depictions of minor children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. She is suspected to have traded and distributed child pornography, possibly involving toddlers and infants. DelCarmen allegedly advertised herself as a nanny and a babysitter online and may have been hired by multiple people.
The sheriff’s office is urging for parents to contact them if their child — especially infants and toddlers — were in contact with the woman.
“And we are looking to see if our suspect actually did babysitting jobs, because she was advertising to be a babysitter,” Troyer said. “Sad part about this is that infants and toddlers can’t tell you what’s going on or what’s happening to them. So we have the dark task of reaching out to parents and finding out if she babysat for them.”
“We’re hoping there aren’t any, but we’re not going to leave any stone unturned,” he said.
Please contact PCSD immediately if your infant or toddler has been in contact w/ the pictured suspect. On 4/23 our detectives arrested Victoria DelCarmen for possessing child pornography & learned that she advertised online as a babysitter/nanny.
Details: https://t.co/NpCH20NmVa pic.twitter.com/Hzoyj0mJBV
— Pierce Co Sheriff (@PierceSheriff) April 24, 2019
“The sad part is that our suspect is only 18 years old, and obviously there is something going on there too, and that is something we are looking at,” Troyer said. “But still, when you look at the gravity of having infants and toddlers as victims, and using those types of pictures, there really isn’t a set of people who are more vulnerable … and can’t speak for themselves.”
Investigation
PCSO says that the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children discovered images of child pornography that were distributed from an IP address in unincorporated Pierce County. Detectives contacted the residence and DelCarmen turned herself in, according to Troyer.
Detectives searched the home and have taken computers and digital cameras into custody. They are looking through websites and other digital information as well.
According to a statement from the sheriff’s office:
During the search of the suspect’s bedroom, our detectives observed multiple doll parts and a life-like baby doll, as well as large quantities of diapers, pacifiers, and baby clothes. The suspect does not have any children. Detectives also seized several electronic devices and discovered numerous communications about sexual acts and regarding infants and toddlers. This evidence has our detectives concerned that there may be additional victims.
“We found many disturbing life-like dolls and odd items that most people would not have, so we don’t know how far she’s gone with what she does, and we are hoping there aren’t any actually, physical victims, but we are going to have to work very hard and contact people,” Troyer said.
Charging documents note that Homeland Security had confiscated DelCarmen’s computers once before, in 2015 for another unrelated case. Documents state that the “defendant was communicating with a male and sending illegal images. The male was prosecuted.”
Troyer says the investigation continues and there may be others involved with the distribution of the illegal content. PCSO has traded information with other police departments and the national organization.
“This might be the very tip of an iceberg,” he said. “We’re going to continue to follow it … and track everybody down that needs to be tracked down.”
Anyone with information about DelCarmen, or may have hired her, exchanged text messages, etc. are asked to contact detectives at 253-798-7530. Tips can also be sent via private messages on social media, and through the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-222-TIPS or text via the P3 Tips app.
