A man and woman pleaded guilty to federal charges in a plot to sexually exploit an 8-year-old girl, authorities said.
Charles Brandon Powell, 33, of Hephzibah, and Carrie Marie Minton, 25, of Cordoba, South Carolina, each entered guilty pleas to one count of production of child pornography Monday, according to U.S. Attorney Bobby L. Christine.
Powell and Minton, who Christine said are a couple, admitted to having online discussions to plan a sexual encounter with an 8-year-old girl. Christine said Minton planned to bring the girl to Powell’s home from South Carolina.
Minton also sent a sexually explicit photo of a 5-month-old girl to Powell, Christine said. That’s when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children contacted authorities to intervene. The couple was taken into custody soon after, Christine said.
“The facts of this case are sickening and disturbing, revealing a cesspool of cooperative depravity,” Christine said.
U.S. District Court Judge J. Randall Hall accepted both guilty pleas. Minton and Powell are being held in the Jefferson County Jail, where they will remain until a sentencing hearing.
The child porn charge carries a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison, Christine said.
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