CLEVELAND, Ohio — A Beachwood nanny admitted to federal investigators that she recorded herself sexually abusing two toddlers under her care and sent the videos via Snapchat, according to court records filed Friday.
Molly Duncan, 25, abused the children while she was hired to take care of them at their homes in Kent and Chardon, according to an arrest affidavit.
Duncan is charged in federal court in Cleveland with sexual exploitation of a child and distributing child pornography. The charges carry a mandatory minimum prison term of 15 and five years, respectively.
U.S. District Magistrate Jonathan Greenberg ordered Duncan held in federal custody until a preliminary and detention hearing on Wednesday.
Duncan’s attorney, R.J. Budway, declined comment after the hearing.
The Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force began investigating Duncan on March 25 after Snapchat notified authorities about 15 videos Duncan sent from her account, court records say.
One of the videos showed Duncan sexually abusing a toddler, while another showed her engaging in a sex act with a second child, court records say.
Investigators raided Duncan’s apartment on March 27. She admitted to making the videos with her phone and saving them on her Snapchat, according to court records.
Agents seized her cellphone, two USB thumb drives, a hard drive, a laptop and clothes, according to court records.
Cellphone records showed she sent at least three different people child pornography or videos of sexual abuse, the affidavit said.
Investigators found multiple chats on Duncan’s phone in which she discussed sexual fantasies with children, including carrying out the abuse if she had a daughter someday.
“She will not have a choice. Unless sick or hurt,” the messages said, according to court records.
Duncan later messaged someone she had been sending videos to that she had been banned by Snapchat for the videos she sent him and that she was “extremely depressed, and scared too.”
After another back-and-forth with the person, she finally texted: “They’re at my house. The police.”
Adam Ferrise covers federal courts at cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. You can find his work here.
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