Taylor woman, 26, gets 30 years in prison for sexually exploiting infant

A Taylor woman has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for sexually exploiting an infant and another child in addition to distributing child pornography, federal officials said.

Rheanna Rose Salyer, 26, received the sentence Tuesday in federal court, they said.

Investigators said Salyer admitted to creating images that sexually exploit an infant. She also sent an image of herself having inappropriate sexual contact with an infant to another person over the internet in February 2022, they said.

"This defendant not only abused an infant in an unimaginable manner, but she also shared that abuse with others over the internet," Dawn Ison, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, said in a statement.

Officials said Salyer met an undercover officer pretending to have a sexual interest in children later that month online. During a conversation with the undercover officer, Salyer sent the officer sexually explicit images of the infant, bragged about sexually assaulting the infant, and discussed her desire to engage in sex acts with the undercover officer and the infant together.

Agents raided Salyer's home after they confirmed her identity. They found additional images of child sexual abuse, including one Salyer that created just hours before they entered her home.

Authorities said her cellphone contained numerous conversations with other individuals online discussing her sexual interest in children as well as sexually explicit images of minors. She had other images of child pornography downloaded from the internet or that she'd received from others during chats.

"Rheanna Salyer admitted to sexually exploiting an infant," James Tarasca, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office, said in a statement. "I can think of nothing more appalling, and today’s sentencing sends an unequivocal message that predatory acts by criminals like her will not be tolerated."

cramirez@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @CharlesERamirez