Woman Who Used Disabled Girl To Produce Child Porn Gets Up To 53 Years In Prison

A woman in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, who pleaded guilty to producing child pornography using an intellectually disabled girl faces up to 53 years in prison.

Zoraida Flores, of Allentown, was sentenced Thursday to 21 years to 53 years in state prison in Lehigh County Court following a negotiated guilty plea, local news outlet Lehigh Valley Live reported.

The 48-year-old woman was arrested last year after being accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl with intellectual disabilities. The victim was Flores' stepdaughter, according to The Morning Call.

In May, Flores pleaded guilty to more than 20 counts of the 89 she originally faced, including indecent assault of a child under the age of 16, indecent assault of a person with a mental disability and manufacturing child pornography.

Flores' 2020 arrest came after investigators received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that she may be sharing child pornography through Facebook, according to prosecutors.

Authorities were able to seize Flores' mobile phone, which contained numerous images of child pornography, including images of girls being sexually abused by adults and nude photos of the 13-year-old victim.

“The sentence sends a clear message to child abusers and predators in our commonwealth – we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro stated.

Last year, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office said it was Facebook that originally reported the suspected child pornography back in July 2019, which included two pictures and a video featuring young girls and adults engaged in sex acts, WFMZ reported, citing a criminal complaint.

Investigators said the person reported in each of the tips had similar screen names. They tracked the IP address to RCN and were directed to an apartment in Allentown after getting a subpoena for the internet subscriber information.

A search warrant was issued in October 2020 for the apartment. Flores and an unidentified man, who were living in the apartment at the time, were interviewed, according to court records. The man was listed as the internet subscriber but was not facing criminal charges at the time.

Flores gave investigators access to her Gmail account, the one associated with the child pornography uploaded to Facebook. But it was on the suspect’s iPhone where child pornography material was found.

There were at least 10 photos of the minor victim found on the phone. Investigators found at least 60 other pictures of child pornography on Flores’ cell phone.