Mom arrested for allegedly offering her 4-year-old daughter for sex
Friday, November 11, 2005
(11-11) 17:12 PST MARTINEZ -- A 22-year-old Martinez woman has been arrested after having Internet correspondence with someone who solicited sex from her and her 4-year-old daughter in exchange for $500, police said.
Authorities arrested Shannon Nicole Woods Tuesday at her residence in the 200 block of Thistle Circle on suspicion of offering a minor under 16 for lewd and lascivious acts. She is being held on $50,000 bail, said Martinez police detective Sgt. Gary Peterson.
Police are reviewing videotapes and the contents of Woods' laptop while determining whether they have enough evidence to charge her with a crime. The case will be referred to the district attorney on Monday, police said.
Peterson said police received tips from a citizen and from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that Woods was prostituting her daughter.
Woods had posted an advertisement on Craigslist offering sex, Peterson said. Someone who was familiar with Woods and who suspected she would include her daughter in sex acts contacted her over the Internet, Peterson said.
"Someone not in law enforcement went online and chatted with her and brought up the fact that she had a daughter and would the daughter be interested in partaking in sexual endeavors," Peterson said.
According to evidence of the correspondence provided by the tipster, Woods' response was, "We'll have to see," police said.
"Her response is the crux of the whole issue," Peterson said.
Woods' 4-year-old daughter and an infant who is several weeks old have been taken into protective custody, Peterson said.