Maine mom nabbed in international child porn sting

Maine (US), June 16 (ANI): A mother of four young children in Maine was charged Monday with gross sexual assault after British investigators more than 3,000 miles away used the Internet to allegedly catch her in the act of Webcasting a sexual assault of her young child.

Julie M. Carr, 30, of Mars Hill, Maine, was arrested at about 11 p.m. Friday.

Her four children - believed to range from 18 months to 5 years old - were taken into protective custody, Fox News reports.

The Child Exploitation Investigation Team of England's West Midlands Police said their unit received information late Thursday that a local man was using the Internet to show inappropriate material of children.

An unidentified 18-year-old man was later arrested in Walsall, England.

A day later, on Friday, West Midland Police contacted officials at the Child Exploitation Online Protection and the U.S. Embassy, and obtained additional information.

"Our officers worked through the night on Thursday and Friday to ensure the identification and safety of these children across the other side of the world," West Midlands Police Detective Chief Inspector Dave McCrone said in a statement obtained by FOX News.

Carr, who is being held on 50,000 dollars bail on charges of gross sexual assault and felony exploitation of a child, was arraigned by videoconference before a judge on Monday. She did not enter a plea, Maine State Police Detective Sergeant John Cote told FOX News.

Cote declined to identify the victim seen during the assault but said one recording was taken as recently as Wednesday. (ANI)