Woman creates catfish account to frame person for child sex crimes, Florida cops say
A Florida woman created a fake social media profile pretending to be someone else and sent herself child sex abuse material, state law enforcement said.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said a 42-year-old Spring Hill woman contacted investigators to report knowing someone distributing files showing the sexual abuse of children, according to an Aug. 10 news release.
The Hernando County woman told investigators a person had sent her child sex abuse materials over social media and had asked her to have sexual contact with a minor, according to the release.
The woman said the person wanted her to record the crime and then sell the images, law enforcement said.
Investigators believed the allegations were credible, and they got search warrants and interviewed the woman and the person she accused of sending the messages, according to the release.
When the investigators took a closer look at the account, they found it was actually fake and had been created by the woman reporting it, according to the release.
“(The woman’s) elaborate scheme included creating the imposter social media profile to ‘communicate’ with, and transmit images depicting the sexual abuse of children, to herself, after which she falsely reported the criminal activity to have been committed by another person,” investigators said in the release.
She was charged with falsifying a police report, identity theft, transmission of child sexual abuse material, possession of child sexual abuse material and unlawful use of a two-way communication device, law enforcement said.
Investigators did not release the relationship between the woman and the person she is accused of framing.
Spring Hill is about 50 miles north of Tampa.
This story was originally published August 10, 2023 at 12:51 PM with the headline "Woman creates catfish account to frame person for child sex crimes, Florida cops say."
