ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — A woman was arrested early Thursday, accused of the sexual battery of a nonverbal girl, according to a St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office arrest report.
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Katie Malone, 34, is facing the following charges:
- Human trafficking committed upon a disabled person
- Capital sexual battery
- Lewd or lascivious molestation committed upon a disabled person
- Transmission of child sexual abuse material (CSAM)
- Unlawful use of a two-way communications device
- Production of CSAM
- Sexual performance of a child
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Deputies first received a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on Wednesday.
The tip was originally reported by Media Lab, Kik, the SJSO report said. Kik is a messaging app that allows users to remain anonymous.
“Kik provided suspect identifiers and multiple-colored photographs and videos of a child being sexually battered,” the report said.
The report shared details provided by Kik about photos and videos appearing to show instances of abuse involving Malone and the girl.
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In more than one of the videos, the child was “vocal stimming (i.e.: unintelligible noises).” Also in more than one of the videos, the child was wearing “sensory headphones.”
In a recorded interview with deputies on body-worn camera, Malone said she knew the child was nonverbal.
Malone is being held in the St. Johns County Jail and was not granted a bond, online jail records show.
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