Prosecutor blasts female pedophile

Michigan woman sentenced to 30 years

Pedophilia is still very much a man’s crime, data from the criminal justice system shows. And offenders often had been victims themselves.

In a recent Michigan case, however, the prosecutor urged the judge to ignore all that and show no mercy to the defendant standing before him: a woman accused of sexually abusing a baby boy, photographing the acts and sharing the images with others online.

“She brutally violated a 5-month-old infant, engaging in behavior so horrific and disgusting that it is impossible to find words that can adequately express how truly awful it was,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Rawsthorne wrote in a sentencing memo that attacked one of the most common defense arguments in criminal cases: I was abused as a child.

Most child sex abuse victims ‘do not go on to abuse others’

In a rare move, Rawsthorne urged the judge not to go easy on the defendant because she is a woman or because she may have been sexually abused as a child – a defense the prosecutor maintains is overused in molestation cases, often without merit.

“There is a pervasive misbelief that being a victim of sexual abuse causes someone to become a perpetrator themselves,” Rawsthorne wrote in his sentencing memo. “There is no question that victims of childhood sexual abuse have higher rates of violent offenses and substance abuse later in life. But far too often in the search for answers as to why some do the unthinkable, there is a desire to form too strong a correlation between prior victimization and offending against children.”

He added: “Regardless of whether a correlation exists, the vast majority of those who are sexually abused as children do not go on to abuse others.”

The case involves 26-year-old Rheanna Salyer, of Taylor, a married, college-educated woman who was sentenced to 30 years in prison this month after previously pleading guilty to creating images of children being sexually abused, including one of herself molesting an infant she knew personally.

At Salyer’s sentencing, defense lawyer Rhonda Brazile said her client experienced childhood trauma and abuse at age 13, though

she did not provide specifics. Her sentencing memo was sealed “to preserve the sensitive nature of the matter,” but an FBI agent’s affidavit shed some light on what may have happened to Salyer when she was a child.

According to the affidavit, Salyer told an undercover officer her father had intercourse with her “and played with me constantly.”

According to court records, Salyer also struggles with mental health issues and substance abuse. In the end, though, the judge concluded her crimes against the infant outweighed all other factors, if his comments are any indication.

“The offense in this case is shocking,” U.S. District Judge David Lawson said before handing down the sentence. “It is difficult to imagine what would cause someone to abuse ... (an) infant in the manner that the defendant abused the victim in this case.”

The judge then weighed in on her childhood.

“There is – with due respect to the government’s argument ... a correlation that has been reported in the psychological journals between past abuse begetting future abuse,” Lawson said. “But nonetheless, as the government says, we are the authors of our own conduct and we do have a responsibility to bring our own history and background into society and to live a law-abiding life, despite the disadvantages and the previous assaults on our psyche that we have had to endure.”

According to a 2018 Cambridge University study, the risk of being an adult perpetrator is “positively correlated” with child sexual abuse. But mostly for men. The study found that out of 135 male victims of child sex abuse, 79 became perpetrators, or 59%. In comparison, of the 41 female victims of child sexual abuse, only one became a perpetrator, or 2%.

‘I would like to apologize’

Salyer faced a maximum of 50 years in prison for her crime.

That’s what the government was pushing for, though her lawyer asked the judge for a more lenient sentence.

“Ms. Salyer’s conduct is egregious. Nobody disputes that, not even her. At this stage in her life, she has come to recognize the things that have happened to her previously and the connections that they have to what occurred here,” said Brazile, adding her client has the “very real possibility of being able to be healed and corrected.”

“She has support from her family who love her very much,” Brazile said. “We don’t believe there will be ever a future victim, Your Honor. Ms. Salyer has made tremendous progress with understanding this entire conduct and she is deeply remorseful.” Salyer also made a brief statement in court.

“Your Honor, I would like to apologize to the victims, the court and the families involved in this case,” Salyer said. “I would also like to take full responsibility for what I have done here. I’m looking forward to recidivism programs and mental health programs in prison. And thank you for letting me speak.”

‘If this case involved a man’

In pushing for a 50-year-sentence, the prosecutor raised the subject of gender.

“If this case involved a man committing these acts, any pleas for sympathy or a lower sentence would likely fall upon deaf ears,” argued the prosecutor, who urged the judge not to be influenced by Salyer’s appearance, which he described as “not physically imposing.”

“She will not appear traditionally dangerous,” the prosecutor argued. “But she is incredibly so ... There is nothing to differentiate her between male offenders who would receive a significant sentence for this behavior.”

According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, 94% of child pornographers are male. The average sentence for those who produce child pornography is about 23 years in prison – though the courts impose longer sentences on those who victimize infants or toddlers. Those average sentences are about 30 years – which is what Salyer got.

Her punishment falls in line with those of her female peers. In court documents, the prosecution cited more than two dozen cases across the country involving female child pornographers, whose sentences ranged from six to 60 years in prison.

“For some of those that received lesser sentences, they were not sexually interested in children themselves and engaged in the behavior to please a boyfriend or husband,” the prosecutor wrote. “That was not the case with Salyer.”

She had a sexual interest in children, the prosecutor said, and hid her crimes from her husband.

“She created images of pain and humiliation ... for the sexual enjoyment of other pedophiles,” the prosecutor argued. “The only solace is that the infant will not remember the horrors that Salyer subjected him to.”

“Unfortunately,” the prosecutors added, “the internet will.”

“Your Honor, I would like to apologize to the victims, the court and the families involved in this case. I would also like to take full responsibility for what I have done here.

I’m looking forward to recidivism programs and mental health programs in prison.

And thank you for letting me speak.”

Rheanna Salyer

‘Her husband is not aware of her perversions’

According to court documents, here is what led to Salyer’s arrest:

On Jan. 6, 2022, an undercover officer with an FBI task force met a woman on a fetish website and pretended to be interested in children. He initiated a private chat with her, during which she stated she was a 25-year-old female from Michigan, and had a minor child with her.

More chats followed. The woman eventually told the officer that she had been performing various sex acts on the infant, and sent him a live photo of the baby drinking from a bottle. She also sent an image of herself engaged in a sexual act with a baby toy.

“(She) stated that she is married and her husband is not aware of her perversions,” an FBI agent wrote in an affidavit.

Over the next six weeks, the undercover officer continued to communicate with the woman, who discussed her frustrations with life, her daily chores, her “sexual interest” in the 4-monthold boy and different sex acts she would perform on the infant.

The FBI did not disclose the relationship the woman had with the child.

On Feb. 23, 2022, the undercover officer discovered another victim. The Michigan woman sent him a photo of a prepubescent girl being sexually assaulted by a male. She also sent an image of herself engaged in sexual activity with the infant.

Later in the chat, she told the undercover officer that she wanted to travel to meet him somewhere, so that he could “sexually abuse” the baby and have sex with her while she molested the infant. Within 24 hours, FBI agents were on her doorstep, armed with a search warrant.

On the evening of Feb. 24, 2022, FBI agents searched her home in Taylor.

They seized a cellphone from the woman’s pocket. The messages she had sent the undercover officer were there.

There was also a photo of a woman performing a sex act on an infant boy. It was taken at 8:42 p.m. that night, shortly before the FBI showed up.

The FBI arrested her that night.