GREENFIELD — A Greenfield woman is in jail amid allegations she possessed and then sold inappropriate photographs of an underage girl.
Shelby Allee, 21, 920 ½ W. North St., Greenfield, faces felony charges of child exploitation and possession of child pornography, records show. She was booked into the Hancock County Jail Wednesday night and remained there at press time.
Friends of Allee’s obtained a copy of a cell phone image that showed Allee and an underage girl posing naked together in a bathroom, according to court documents.
The friends told police Allee was selling the image to men. They knew at least one person had paid Allee $120 for the picture, court documents state.
The friends told investigators Allee had been pressuring the girl to engage in inappropriate behavior for some time.
One friend said she overheard a conversation between Allee and the girl in which Allee tried to convince the girl to have sex with two men in their 40s, according to court documents. Allee told the girl she needed “to stop being scared and just do it,” the friend told police.
The underage girl spoke to investigators and said she’d met Allee online more than a year ago and began spending time at the woman’s Greenfield home earlier this year.
The girl admitted to posing for the picture; but said Allee had said she would crop out the girl’s face before sending it, court documents state.
The girl told police Allee said she was only sending the photo to a boyfriend. The girl did not know if anyone else had received the image, court documents state.
The girl confirmed Allee had asked her to have sex with several men, but she never did, court documents state.
Investigators obtained text messages that Allee exchanged with friends and the underage girl. In the texts, the defendant discusses the trouble she could get in if the photo was found, court documents state. This confirmed Allee knew her actions were illegal, police say; but they were not able to confirm who took the picture of Allee and the girl or who had received it, court documents state.
Allee faces one Level 5 felony count of child exploitation and one Level 6 felony count of possession of child pornography.
A Level 5 felony is punishable by up to six years in prison. Those found guilty of Level 6 felonies face between six months and 2 ½ years in jail.