UPDATE: Woman accused of molesting infant, making child pornography at urging of Springs man

UPDATE

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Richard Hennis pled guilty to the charges that were filed against him on November 21, 2016. He was sentenced to 27-years in prison on April 19, 2017.

Brandi Leonard pled guilty to the charge that was filed against her on April 13, 2017. Her sentencing is scheduled for July 21, 2017.

ORIGINAL STORY

The Department of Justice says a man and woman from Colorado are facing charges for sexually abusing an infant and producing child pornography.

Investigators say Brandi Leonard, 18, of Limon, and Richard Hennis, 40, of Colorado Springs met online. They say the pair chatted online for about two months.

The DOJ says that during the course of those chats, Leonard told Hennis that she had sexually abused an infant. It says that Hennis encouraged Leonard to molest the infant again, take pictures or videos of the abuse, and then send them to him.

Leonard allegedly produced the pornographic images that Hennis requested and sent them to him. Those images have been recovered from Hennis’s phone, according to the DOJ.

Investigators say that Leonard and Hennis also chatted in graphic detail about kidnapping, raping, killing and dismembering a child between the ages of 4 and 8 years.

The Department of Justice says that at around the same time that Leonard was sexually abusing the infant, she was also corresponding by email with nannies4hire.com and care.com, which are websites that provide services including connecting child-care providers with those who need child care.

Leonard faces charges for producing child pornography and transportation of child pornography

Hennis faces ones count of child pornography, one count of advertisement of child pornography and one count of transportation of child pornography.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Colorado Springs Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Unit.