West Virginia 'incest mom' jailed for sex attack on 5-year-old girl in bathtub had sent abuse videos to pedophile
MERCER COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA: A 43-year-old mother from West Virginia, who was imprisoned for a sex attack on a five-year-old, this month, admitted that she had sent video clips of the child's abuse to an alleged pedophile. Elizabeth Haway's admittance comes months after she was sentenced to up to 155 years in prison.
Haway, from Princeton, was given the lengthy prison sentence for the "vile and horrific" sexual assault on a child in a bathtub. US Attorney Mike Stuart revealed that Haway admitted to conspiring with alleged pedophile Randall Peggs to distribute child pornography. The woman, infamously known as "incest mom," is set to have additional sentencing on December 14, where she could face another prison term of 20 years. The new details in the case were disclosed at a court hearing in early September, Bluefield Daily Telegraph reported.
Court documents state that Haway and Peggs began communicating through Facebook messenger two years ago in November 2018. Peggs reportedly pleaded guilty to federal child pornography charge in August this year and is scheduled to be sentenced on November 9. Much of the communication exchanged between the pair was reportedly about Haway's urge to sexually abuse the young girl. The documents added that the mother was influenced by Peggs to send child porn videos to him on Facebook. However, soon an investigation into the pair was initiated after a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Mercer County Circuit Court Judge William Sadler, during Haway's sentencing earlier this year, said that "lifelong damage has been inflicted on this child. This child has lost innocence that can never be restored or replaced." Sadler added: "I've been involved in the criminal justice system for over 30 years. From that standpoint, this is one of the vilest and horrific cases I have ever experienced in the criminal justice system."
Haway, in December 2019, pleaded guilty to first-degree sexual assault, first-degree sexual abuse, and sexual abuse by a parent, guardian, custodian or person of trust, and incest.
One of the officers leading the investigation into the case, Detective-Sgt. Steve Sommers, according to the criminal complaint, said: "As I searched her Facebook records further, I found two video files that were approximately 3 minutes and 21 seconds (each) in length that had been sent to another Facebook user. I estimated the age of the child to be between 5 and 6 years of age. I also observed that the bathtub had distinct cracking of the molding at the wall and bathtub and that the adult female had a tattoo on her finger of a smiley face (two dots and a line)," Sommers, in the report, said. The detective further added that when he searched Haway's house, he found her bathroom to be very similar to the one he had seen in the abuse videos.
During Haway's sentencing, Prosecuting Attorney George Sitle requested the court impose the maximum sentencing for Haway. She was later sentenced to Haway 25 to 100 years for both counts of sex assault with both of her terms running simultaneously. Haway is required to serve a minimum of 45 years of her prison sentence to be eligible for parole. The 43-year-old will approximately be 88 when she will be eligible and well be required to register as a sex offender with the West Virginia State Police.