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PERRY, Box Elder County — Investigators say the father of a child whose nude photo was allegedly taken and sold by the child's mother lied to them about his knowledge of the abuse.
Brian Dean Raehal, 55, was charged on Dec. 23 with obstructing justice, a second-degree felony, and failure to report abuse, a class B misdemeanor.
Detectives believe Starla Rae McCabe, 45, of Perry, photographed and sold nude photos of her grade school-aged child. She was charged in December with 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony.
In March, a relative discovered nude photographs of the child on the child's Nintendo DSI, according to a search warrant affidavit. Three days later, the child was interviewed by the Division of Child and Family Services and told a caseworker that McCabe had taken "loads" of pictures of the child "without any clothes on," the affidavit states.
The child told investigators that the "mother would then show the pictures to men," according to the affidavit. The child also said the mother "printed the pictures and sold them to people for $100," another court document states.
The Nintendo was turned over to the Garland City Police Department, which turned it over to the Box Elder County Sheriff's Office in November. Nineteen pornographic pictures were found on the Nintendo, police said.
McCabe, who has a history of drug abuse, was interviewed by detectives on Nov. 26. She told investigators she took pictures of her child's genitals to show the child "what it looks like," then declined to answer other questions about the photos, a detective wrote.
Raehal, the father of the child, "lied to a detective about his knowledge regarding the detective's investigation into an aggravated child sex abuse case," charging documents state, and "also failed to report the allegation of the sexual abuse to authorities, when the victim disclosed it."
A preliminary hearing for Raehal on the two charges is scheduled for Monday. A preliminary hearing for McCabe on the exploitation charges is scheduled for Jan. 12.
