VICKSBURG, Mich. – A Michigan couple is accused of taking sexually explicit photos involving themselves and two young, sleeping girls in their family, officials said.
Virgil Chandler Knowles III, 47, and Samantha Jean Batts, 35, both of Vicksburg, Michigan, were named in a criminal complaint filed Thursday (July 14).
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WARNING: Some of the details described below are explicit and disturbing.
Undercover operation
An undercover task force officer with the FBI joined a private online group where authorities said people would meet, discuss, and trade pictures and videos of children engaged in sexual acts. The room included 184 members, according to the complaint.
Court records show the officer posted a message around 2:45 p.m. July 13 saying, “Any other dads perv on their little ones?”
At 4:32 p.m., another member of the group replied, “Yes I do,” according to authorities. That account was later traced back to Knowles, the criminal complaint says.
The undercover officer started a private chat with Knowles at 4:36 p.m., officials said.
Knowles identified himself as a 46-year-old man living in the United States, court records show. He said he was sexually active with a 10-year-old family member and 4-year-old family member, according to authorities.
Court records show Knowles stated he would lick, touch, and perform other sexual acts on the children while they slept.
“During the course of the chat, Knowles stated that the 10-year-old’s mother informed him that she wanted him to get something for her daughter to make her sleep,” the criminal complaint reads. “Knowles further stated that the mother is involved in helping him use her daughter for sexual purposes.”
Knowles sends pictures of young girl
The officer claimed to have an 8-year-old daughter as part of his cover story, and Knowles asked for pictures of her, officials said. The officer sent a picture of a lifelike doll, and Knowles responded with five images of his 10-year-old family member, according to the criminal complaint.
One picture showed the girl wearing underwear and standing with her back to the camera, officials said.
A second image showed the girl without clothes on and a woman’s hand on the inside of her thigh, according to authorities.
Another picture showed a man pressing himself against the face of a child who appeared to be asleep, court records say.
The fourth image showed a man pressing himself against the back of an unclothed child, while a woman’s hand pressed him against the child, according to officials.
The final image showed a man putting both hands on a child’s buttocks, authorities said.
During the course of the chat, Knowles sent the officer three additional images to verify that he was legitimate, the criminal complaint says. One showed a child’s underwear, and another showed a child wearing that same underwear, officials said.
The third photo showed a man standing naked over the child’s face as she slept, court records allege.
Snapchat conversation
Knowles told the officer that during his first experience with the girl, the girl’s mother had guided his hand to touch the 10-year-old, according to authorities.
He told the officer that he was home alone smoking methamphetamine and marijuana, officials said. They started to converse on Snapchat, the criminal complaint says.
Knowles is accused of sending the officer a Snapchat of his 10-year-old daughter and her mother, later identified as Batts, according to court records. The image showed the child sleeping on the couch while Batts covered her face with one hand and touched the child sexually with the other, the undercover officer said.
Knowles also sent a video showing himself forcing the sleeping girl to touch him sexually, authorities said.
Charges
Officials worked with Snapchat and linked the account used by Knowles to a location on Gardner Pond Lane in Vicksburg, Michigan, they said.
FBI officials said they tentatively identified the Snapchat user as Knowles, and identified his girlfriend as Batts.
Batts’ Facebook account included several photos of her wearing a necklace that was also worn by the woman in the Snapchat photos, according to authorities.
A young girl in several of Batts’ photos matched the description of the sleeping child shown in many of Knowles’ pictures, officials said.
In the criminal complaint, the FBI says there is reason to believe searches of both Knowles’ home and Batts’ home would allow officers to uncover evidence of child pornography.
“I expect a search of their residences would lead to the recovery of the electronic devices used to record the images and videos described above, as well as electronic devices used to store the images and videos described above,” the complaint reads. “Such a search is also likely to produce attribution evidence linking Knowles and Batts to these devices, images, and videos.”
Officials conclude that there’s probable cause to believe Knowles and Batts sexually exploited children and distributed child pornography.
