PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A former behavioral health worker for children with autism has been sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison for distributing child pornography online.
Tayanna Bowman, of Philadelphia, pleaded guilty last March. This week, the 25-year-old was sentenced to nine years and two months in prison, as well as 20 years of supervised release.
In January 2020, federal authorities say Bowman distributed child porn videos and images on the app Kik Messenger.
At that time, Bowman worked at a regional child care service provider called ChanceLight Autism Services. Prior to that, she worked as a teaching assistant at Cynthia’s Little Treasures, a day care in West Philadelphia.
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“This defendant chose a line of work providing care to vulnerable, autistic children, and at the same time, she participated in the sexual abuse and exploitation of children,” said U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams.
Federal authorities did not say if the materials Bowman distributed were of children from her place of work.