Woman accused of sexual battery, human trafficking of nonverbal girl, St. Johns deputies say

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — A woman was arrested early Thursday, accused of the sexual battery of a nonverbal girl, according to a St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office arrest report.

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Katie Malone, 34, is facing the following charges:

• Human trafficking committed upon a disabled person
• Capital sexual battery
• Lewd or lascivious molestation committed upon a disabled person
• Transmission of child sexual abuse material (CSAM)
• Unlawful use of a two-way communications device
• Production of CSAM
• Sexual performance of a child

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Deputies first received a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on Wednesday.

The tip was originally reported by Media Lab, Kik, the SJSO report said. Kik is a messaging app that allows users to remain anonymous.

“Kik provided suspect identifiers and multiple-colored photographs and videos of a child being sexually battered,” the report said.

The report shared details provided by Kik about photos and videos appearing to show instances of abuse involving Malone and the girl.

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In more than one of the videos, the child was “vocal stimming (i.e.: unintelligible noises).” Also in more than one of the videos, the child was wearing “sensory headphones.”

In a recorded interview with deputies on body-worn camera, Malone said she knew the child was nonverbal.

Malone is being held in the St. Johns County Jail and was not granted a bond, online jail records show.

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