ICE, SLCPD investigation sends woman to prison for 25 years for producing child exploitation material involving toddler
ST. LOUIS — U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel on Tuesday sentenced a woman from St. Louis County, Missouri to 25 years in prison for producing child sexual abuse material involving a two-year-old, following a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, St. Louis County Police Department investigation.
Judge Sippel also ordered Raven Ainesis Pointer, 27, to pay $15,000 in restitution. After her release from prison, Pointer will be on supervised release for life.
Pointer pleaded guilty in October in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of production of child pornography. Pointer admitted coercing the victim in 2022 into engaging in sexual conduct and using her phone to produce videos containing child sexual abuse material.
On six occasions, Pointer recorded the sexual abuse of the toddler and shared it with others for their “perverse sexual” entertainment, a sentencing memo filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany Becker says. In jail, Pointer continued to try and contact the child and berated the child’s father for seeking restitution, the memo says.
“The production and sharing of child sexual abuse material is an appalling betrayal of human decency. This defendant targeted an innocent toddler – someone who should have been protected, not exploited – and did so for her own twisted purposes and the gratification of others who feed on this sickness. Crimes like this are not only horrific, but they are also unforgivable,” said ICE Homeland Security Investigations Kansas City Special Agent in Charge Mark Zito. “We will use every tool we have to find predators like this, to stop them, and make sure they spend as many years as possible behind bars. There is zero tolerance for those who harm children.”
The investigation began in August of 2023 in Montgomery, Alabama, where ICE HSI special agents learned that a man who had been distributing child sexual abuse material had received videos involving a two-year-old victim from Pointer. Investigators then tracked down Pointer in St. Louis. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.
If you suspect a child may be a victim of online CSEA, call the Know2Protect Tipline at 1-833-591-KNOW (5669) or visit the NCMEC CyberTipline™. If you believe a child has been abducted or is in immediate danger, contact local law enforcement and the NCMEC Tipline at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).
Know2Protect is a national public awareness campaign from the Department of Homeland Security. K2P’s aim is to educate and empower children, teens, parents, trusted adults, and policymakers to prevent, combat, and report online child sexual exploitation and abuse. For more information, please visit our YouTube playlists at Know2Protect Campaign PSA Playlist and Know2Protect Digital Safety Series Playlist on the DHS main channel. Additional resources are available at know2protect.gov and @Know2Protect on Instagram, Facebook and X.
Source: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE.gov)
