Couple accused of child porn will fight to keep parental rights

Published 10:07 am Thursday, April 17, 2014

Deborah and Anthony Edge will fight to retain parental rights of their four children as the couple faces criminal charges for allegedly producing child pornography.

The Edges sought to retain parental rights at a hearing Wednesday. The children are in foster care under Mower County Human Services and have no contact with their parents. The next hearing in the Edges’ parental rights termination case takes place in May.

Deborah Edge

Deborah Edge

Anthony faces a jury trial on one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person younger than 13 and two counts of using minors in a sexual performance/pornographic work. Deborah will enter a plea for similar charges Thursday.

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The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Austin police and Mower County deputies raided the Edges’ house on March 27. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children tipped off the BCA earlier this month about child pornography Anthony allegedly produced on the chat website Omegle, according to a court report.

Omegle tracked the alleged video chat, which took place on a live feed on Feb. 22, and captured 26 images of an elementary age girl performing sexual acts with an adult male, according to a court complaint.

Police found two computers at the Edge house and a web camera authorities believe was used to produce the video. Officers also found metal blinds in Anthony’s room, similar to those shown in the video.

Anthony Edge

Anthony Edge

According to the complaint, police also found recordings of a teenage girl showering. Officers found pinhole cameras inside the house and interviewed a victim, who was unaware she had been recorded.

Later, BCA agents found a different video of Deborah with a naked elementary-aged child in a bathroom, according to court documents. At one point, Deborah gives a sign with what appears to be an online avatar name to the victim and has the victim talk on a phone.

Authorities found another image of Deborah naked from the waist down and holding a pornographic image of an infant.

Deborah admitted to being in both the video and the photo, according to the complaint. She also told police she knew Anthony was sending the video to someone else, but denied knowing she held a pornographic image of an infant in the photo.

Deborah and Anthony Edge will fight to retain parental rights of their four children as the couple faces criminal charges for allegedly producing child pornography.

The Edges sought to retain parental rights at a hearing Wednesday. The children are in foster care courtesy of Mower County Human Services and have no contact with their parents. The next hearing in the Edges’ parental rights termination case takes place in May.

Anthony faces a jury trial on one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person younger than 13 and two counts of using minors in a sexual performance/pornographic work. Deborah will enter a plea for similar charges Thursday.