A woman from Mint Hill, North Carolina, filmed herself sexually assaulting her five-year-old son for her pedophile boyfriend, who threatened to "report her to police" if she did not comply.

The court heard that 36-year-old Joshua Martorelli made two women send him such clips. The first was 36-year-old Wendy Arlene Kasper who sent him videos of herself having sex with her dog as well as videos of her minor daughter having a shower. He threatened to expose her cheating to her partner if she did not act in accordance with his orders.

The second was the North Carolina woman, identified as 28-year-old April Pitchford, who sent him videos of herself sexually assaulting her son after he “threatened to report her to police.” It was, however, unclear what the accused threatened to report to police about Pitchford.

Police began an investigation in December 2016, after the father of one of the children whose mother was coaxed by the accused, found messages exchanged between the woman and the accused. Following this, police executed a search warrant at the accused’s home. Martorelli was detained and during interrogation, he confessed to the crime. He fled to New York after arrest warrants were issued against him, however, turned himself in a few days later.

In October this year, he was found guilty and on Friday, he was sentenced to 28 years imprisonment.

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Representational image of a handcuffed man. SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/Getty Images