Mom Accused of Recording Sex Acts With Her Children and Selling Them Online

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A New River, Arizona, woman is accused of sexually abusing her two young children and selling the unsettling footage to a man over the Internet.

A 28-year-old Arizona woman has been accused of molesting her two young children, filming the abuse and then selling the footage on the Internet, PEOPLE confirms.

Keri Harwood, 28, allegedly filmed herself bathing and molesting the two children, ages 6 and 3, for a man who possibly lives in Texas. The woman supposedly told police that she produced the videos because she was broke and that she didn’t want to disappoint the man, who she had been sexting for months, The Republic reported.

The two children involved are 3 and 6 years old, the sheriff’s office said.

Harwood allegedly told authorities that she recorded the videos for a man she met online who offered to pay her hundreds of dollars if she streamed sex acts with children over Snapchat.

According to law enforcement, Harwood allegedly “desperately needed the money and did not want to disappoint this man.”

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Officials started investigating Harwood based on a tip from one of her friends. The friend, authorities claim, had discovered two videos and PayPal transactions on Harwood’s email account after logging into it to play Pokémon Go with her. (Investigators said Harwood shared her email with the friend because of “poor Internet connectivity.”)

On Sunday, authorities confiscated the video files from Harwood’s home and arrested her. They believe at least five videos exist.

Harwood remains in jail in lieu of a $150,000 bond, the Associated Press reports. It was not immediately clear if she had an attorney and it appears she has not yet entered a plea.

Harwood reportedly told officers that she met the man online and he paid her to masturbate on Snapchat livestreams. She also purportedly disclosed that the man paid her $500 to $600 dollars over the past several months for the illicit videos.

“We expect that parents are going to care and protect their biological children, or any children, this is egregious,” Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone told KPNX.

“Now complete strangers on the opposite side of the world will pay to see a product such as this which is so disgusting and offensive and a child is victimized.”

Harwood is charged with two counts of sexual conduct with a minor, five counts of sexual exploitation of a child for recording the videos, and five counts of sexual exploitation of a child for selling the videos. The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office announced they are searching for the man who purchased the footage from the 28-year-old.

The New River woman is being held on a $150,000 bond.

Local TV station KSAZ reports that no one answered the door at Harwood’s home and that she also declined an interview request.