Woman pleads guilty to sexual abuse of a child

A Chico woman who investigators say shared sexually explicit photos of a five-year-old in exchange for money has pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault of a child.

MACKENZIE PATRICIA DEGAN

Mackenzie Patricia Degan, 26, entered her guilty plea in 271st District Court in Decatur on Aug. 13, according to court records. Degan was charged last October with one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child and two counts of child trafficking and sexual abuse, all first-degree felonies.

Degan's sentencing is scheduled for November 18.

According to arrest warrant affidavits in the case, a detective in Mount Holly, New Jersey, obtained a search warrant for a messaging app account during an investigation and discovered messages between that account and an account later determined to belong to Degan.

“(The detective) pointed out that the videos verified to have been sent from (Degan's account) obviously contained child pornography,” the affidavit states.

The investigator also found that the account used to receive the child pornography sent Degan a payment through CashApp, the affidavit states.

When the anonymous account asked for a photo of a barefoot 5-year-old, it was sent a video of a woman asking a child in a diaper to show his feet. The message was sent about 3 minutes after the $10 was transferred to the woman, the affidavit states.

According to the affidavit, other videos found during the investigation showed the genitals of a female child and another apparently showed sexual intercourse with the child.

Degan was arrested on August 12, 2023, and remains in the Wise County Jail, according to jail records. Bail was set at $200,000.