Federal authorities are accusing a Virginia woman of child pornography after she sent photographs of herself and an infant to a man in another state. The Jan. 25 arrest indicates that , though rare, women can also be targets of government investigations into alleged child pornography.

The suspect, 23, is accused of taking pictures of herself engaging in sexual activity with a 3-month-old infant and sending the pictures to a 49-year-old Wyoming man. The suspect's relationship with the infant is not clear, and the U.S. Attorney's Office gave few details about their case against her, including what the allegedly sexually explicit activity was and how she and the Wyoming man, who was also arrested, knew each other. A statement from the federal prosecutors' office did say the suspect could be sentenced to up to 50 years in prison if convicted.

The arrest is notable because the suspect is one of very few women who have faced federal child pornography charges. The U.S. Sentencing Commission reports that of the 1,677 people convicted of child pornography in federal court, only 10 were female.

The other suspect in the case recently pleaded guilty to unrelated child pornography charges. That prior conviction on his record could boost his sentence to 40 years if convicted of the charges related to the Virginia woman.

Though details about this case are scarce, it could demonstrate how a parent taking pictures of his or her child and sending them to friends over the Internet can inadvertently lead to criminal charges if authorities believe the pictures are too explicit.

Source: Casper Star-Tribune, "Feds: Virginia woman sent child pornography to Wyoming man," Jeremy Pelzer, Jan. 28, 2012