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SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake City woman ordered to prison Monday for attempting to sell her 13-year-old daughter's virginity, sold herself to older men as a teenager.
"There is a history, there is a pattern that needs to be broken," defense attorney Michael Sikora said of the woman's behavior.
But while Sikora asked for probation to allow the woman to undergo treatment, 3rd District Judge Randall Skanchy instead sentenced the 33-year-old woman to two concurrent terms of one to 15 years in prison for two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony.
The woman pleaded guilty to the charges in October. Additional charges of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony, were dismissed in exchange for the woman's plea.
According to charges filed in the case, the woman told police she had made an arrangement with a man named Don to allow him to have sex with her daughter in exchange for $10,000. She also said the man had taken her and her daughter to Victoria's Secret to try on lingerie and also modeled lingerie at home.
Prosecutors said the woman also sent photos of her daughter wearing lingerie to another man named Will, who was going to pay for the photos, according to charging documents.
The woman's boyfriend reported the behavior after reportedly observing several text messages between the woman and Don discussing sex acts between him and her daughter, the charges state. The teenager apparently initially agreed to the arrangement with Don but later changed her mind.
Sikora said the woman had a difficult childhood filled with mental and physical abuse. He said she became an addict who would trade sex for drugs as early as 14 years old and was "taking (drugs) like candy at the time" of the crime involving her daughter.
"It's a tough case," Sikora said. "She deeply regrets what's she's done to her daughter."
This was echoed in the short statement the woman made immediately after Sikora asked for a sentence of probation.
"I'm so sorry for what I've done," she said. "I'm sorry that I hurt her, but she's safe and that's all that matters."
The woman's daughter didn't address the judge, but prosecutor Catherine Peters read a letter from the teenager asking that her mother be allowed to undergo therapy.
"My mom's choices were wrong," the girl wrote, explaining that she would like to be able to visit her mother. "Even though she put me through a lot of stuff, I still love her."
Peters said the case required a prison sentence. The woman may now see the error of her ways, but she still took significant steps toward seeing the abuse through.
"Her criminal history isn't serious, but the crime we're here for today is serious and we would ask for prison," Peters said.
The woman's parents declined to comment after the hearing.
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