Kalamazoo Woman Sentenced To 25 Years For Production Of Child Pornography

          GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN – U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge announced today that Amaris Mae Wyman, 31, of Kalamazoo, was sentenced to 25 years in the Bureau of Prisons for producing child pornography. U.S. District Judge Janet Neff also ordered Wyman to spend seven years on supervised release and imposed financial assessments.

          Wyman pled guilty in May 2019 to the charge of producing a pornographic video of a child. An investigation found that she had taken several videos of her own child showering and using the bathroom. Wyman forwarded those videos to Matthew Toole; Wyman also sent sexually explicit messages to Toole and discussed plans to provide her child with alcohol and prescription medications to facilitate Toole’s rape of the minor.

          Judge Neff commended law enforcement for investigating and stopping them before their plans were put into action. Toole was sentenced earlier this year to 50 to 70 years in state prison for an unrelated criminal sexual assault of an infant girl in Calhoun County.

          At sentencing, Judge Neff noted that the victim had a right to grow up safe and protected by the most important person in any child’s life, their mother, but was instead exploited by Wyman. Birge noted that, “Federal law enforcement takes the protection of all victims seriously, but fights particularly for victims who are young, vulnerable, and exploited by those who ought to protect them.”

          This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, county prosecutor’s offices, the Internet Crimes Against Children task force (ICAC), federal, state, and local law enforcement are working closely together to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children. The partners in Project Safe Childhood work to educate local communities about the dangers of online child exploitation, and to teach children how to protect themselves. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit the following website: www.projectsafechildhood.gov. Individuals with information or concerns about possible child exploitation should contact local law enforcement officials.

          This case was investigated by the Michigan State Police, the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexis M. Sanford.