MEDFORD, Ore. – A babysitter in Oregon was sentenced to 13 years in federal prison for creating and distributing child pornography, according to federal prosecutors.
Kayla Dee Lester, 31, advertised herself online as a “full-time child care provider,” and charged $14.20 per hour. But she turned out to have a disturbing dark side. The woman was found to have taken sexually explicit photos of an 8-year-old child and sent the images to several people she met online.
Lester snapped the pics in 2020 before sending them to other deranged individuals via Whisper, a social media app on which users can anonymously post media, according to a press release from the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon.
Once Lester was caught and confronted during an interview with police, she acknowledged that she used the app to meet others interested in obtaining child pornography, and solicited illegal material in return, the Post Millennial reported.
A federal grand jury in Oregon indicted Lester in 2020 on three counts of using a minor to produce visual depictions of sexually explicit conduct, distributing, and possessing child pornography.
The gender of the victim was not disclosed by prosecutors, nor was it revealed whether the child had been in the defendant’s care at the time the victim was photographed.
In May 2023, Lester pleaded guilty to the charges and was granted pretrial release as she awaited sentencing.
However, less than two months later she violated terms of her release — possessing a cell phone with internet access — and she was taken into custody.
Investigators discovered nude images of Lester and other adults on the phone, as well as 44 videos of child pornography and “chats between Lester and others wherein she described sexually abusing her 8-year-old victim.”
On Monday, Lester was sentenced to 13 years in federal prison for her crimes, according to federal authorities. Once she is paroled, she will be subjected to 20 years of supervised release.
