The child porn case that led to St. Louis mom and baby daughter

The child porn case that led to St. Louis mom and baby daughter

Thursday, 25 March 2010

CLAYTON, Montana (KMOX News) -- Update 4:32 p.m.: KMOX News has learned more about the California professor charged with raping and sodomizing a 13-month-old St. Louis girl.


SICK - Tessa Vanvlerah, 20, charged with raping her own 13 month-old-daughter

Kenneth Kyle was stopped by customs agents March 15th as he returned to San Francisco from a trip to Germany.

In a federal affidavit a special agent details images found on Kyle's laptop computer -- photographs of infants and toddlers being sexually abused by adults. Investigators allege they went on to find more than 500 images and 33 videos.

They accuse Kyle of taking part in a peer-to-peer file sharing network. He's charged in California federal court with transportation of child pornography.

St. Louis officials say it was this arrest that led to the search for a 13-month-old girl in Ballwin.

Kyle and the child's mother face multiple charges in St. Louis County.

----------

Previous story:

A Ballwin mother is in custody, accused of helping a man from California sexually abuse her 13-month-old daughter.

St. Louis County Police say they were alerted to the case by federal officials investigating a California professor for child pornography.

County Police Officer Rick Eckhard says officials believe 46-year-old Kenneth Kyle met 20-year-old Tessa Vervlerah of Ballwin over the internet and travelled to St. Louis.

"And we have reason to believe that when they met the woman's 13-month-old child was the victim of sexual assaults, " says Eckhard. "To be honest with you the fact that child is 13-months doesn't mean it just happened today. We believe that this has been going on for months, so we really can't tell you at this part of the investigation how old the child was when the assaults started."

The girl is in protective custody. Her mother is being held on a $2 million cash-only bond in St. Louis County. Tessa Vervlerah is charged with one count Statutory Rape in the First Degree, one count of Statutory Sodomy in the First Degree, one count of Promoting Child Pornography in the First Degree and one count of Incest.

Kenneth Kyle faces similar charges. He's currently in custody in California where he also faces federal charges. He was arrested earlier this month. Kyle is a professor at California State University.

http://www.kmox.com/UPDATE--The-child-porn-case-that-led-to-St--Louis-/6658928



http://www.fox2now.com/news/ktvi-sex-with-infant-arrest-032510,0,3217090.story

Ballwin mother accused of sex with child faces new charge

03.31.2010

A Ballwin mother and an assistant college professor from California accused of performing sex acts on a child as young as five months have both been indicted on a new child pornography charge, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.

Tessa L. Van Vlerah, 20, and Kenneth M. Kyle, 46,were indicted on a charge of production of child pornography and accused the pair of photographing themselves engaged in sexually explicit conduct with a minor sometime between March 1 and March 15, prosecutors said.

St. Louis County prosecutors charged Van Vlerah and Kyle last week with statutory rape, statutory sodomy and promoting child pornography and Van Vlerah with incest. County police said that the pair met online and Kyle traveled to St. Louis to have sex with Van Vlerah and the child about five times.

Kyle is already facing a federal child pornography charge in California.

The child, now 13 months, is in state custody.

Van Vlerah, of the 200 block of Solon Drive in Ballwin, and Kyle, of San Francisco, are both currently behind bars.

http://interact.stltoday.com/blogzone/st-louis-crime-beat/federal-court/2010/03/ballwin-mother-accused-of-sex-with-child-faces-new-charge/