A couple in San Antonio, Texas, is accused of trying to trade sex with the woman's five-year-old daughter for an apartment, a used car and child care for her 10-month old daughter.
Jennifer Richards, 25, and her married boyfriend, Sean Michael Block, 40, appeared before US Magistrate Judge Nancy Stein Nowak on Friday.
Richards is charged with using interstate facilities to transmit information about a minor. Block is charged with distributing child pornography.
Nowak ordered Block held. Richards' detention hearing was delayed until Tuesday, the San Antonio Express-News reported today.
According to an affidavit unsealed last Tuesday, the investigation began when an informant told the FBI about a text message allegedly sent by Block reading: "Nice piece 5 yrs old belongs to my gf and she wants to sell it."
Richards and Block crafted a deal that, in addition to the apartment and used car, included childcare for Richards' 10-month-old daughter, whose sexual service the couple intended to sell later, Rex Miller, the FBI's lead agent on the case, testified.
The couple had also hoped to blackmail the informant, Miller said.
Richards "was of the belief that these sexual interactions would be a positive experience for (her daughter) and that Richards would receive sexual gratification" from watching, according to the affidavit.
Authorities said both children are no longer in Richards' custody and that neither child was sold for sex.
After reviewing computers the couple used and listening to taped conversations, Miller determined Block and Richards were making further plans to abduct, rape and "carve up" a teenage runaway.
Block allegedly sent an email with a link to a Russian child pornography site, according to the affidavit.
Ronald Guyer, Block's lawyer, acknowledged the severity of the charges. But Guyer told the judge that there was no evidence that the behaviour progressed beyond Block's fantasy.
"There has been no action on his part," Guyer told Nowak.
Richard's lawyer did not immediately return a call or email left Sunday by The Associated Press seeking comment.
The couple worked at the Cheesecake Factory at North Star Mall, where he was a bartender and she was a waitress.
Court records show that Block's now estranged wife Sarah Block filed for a protective order earlier this week on behalf of the couple's 14-month-old child. Her lawyer said she filed for divorce on Friday.
