TULSA - A woman is facing five counts of sexual abuse of a child under 12 after deputies were tipped off to inappropriate videos and photos of the woman's one-year-old.
The Tulsa County Sheriff's Office investigated 29-year-old Jerrica Lackey after receiving a call from her daughter's father.
Authorities say the father and Lackey aren't together.
He went to pick the child up and noticed inappropriate messages between Lackey and her boyfriend.
When he opened the messages he saw inappropriate videos and pictures of his child shared between them on the Kik App.
“I know initially when we got the call we’re like that can’t be. I mean that’s hard to even comprehend that a mother would do something like that to a child," said Tulsa County Sheriff's Office Public Information Officer Casey Roebuck.
He called 911. Neighbors said they had no idea.
“They had been face timing and over the course of this relationship he asks her to send pictures and videos of this baby of acts being performed," Roebuck said.
TCSO said the boyfriend is John Marco from Florida, and he and Lackey met online.
When authorities questioned her, Lackey said Marco coerced her into sending the images.
“But the fact that she’s a parent to our victim is extremely unusual and extremely heartbreaking," Roebuck said.
Sheriff's deputies arrested an emotional Lackey on Monday.
“Someone being emotional at the time of their arrest doesn’t tell me they’re sorry for what they did. It tells me they’re sorry they got caught," Roebuck said.
"It's surprising that I didn't know because I was here all day, so it's like 'wow,'" one neighbor said.
TCSO said the investigation has been especially hard on its deputies.
“We’re all parents. We’re moms, we’re dads. And it’s just in our DNA that we would do absolutely anything to protect those children," Roebuck said.
The child is now in her father's custody.
Lackey had two other children who are now in the care of other family members; Roebuck said there were no signs they were sexually abused.
The FBI is pursing Lackey's boyfriend in Florida who could potentially face federal charges.
Since deputies found additional phones and iPads the investigation is ongoing while they look through the devices.
TCSO says if you suspect anything like this is happening to a child to call 911 immediately.
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