West Philly day-care worker shared child porn over the internet, feds say
Despite the allegations, prosecutors have not accused Tayanna Bowman of abusing or shooting pornographic images of any children in her care, though the FBI investigation and search of her electronic devices continues.
A former employee of a West Philadelphia day-care center traded pornographic images of children online even while at the workplace where she tended to toddlers, federal authorities said Friday.
Tayanna Bowman, 23, of West Philadelphia, is accused of exchanging lewd images of children as young as 3 in a file sharing group called “Teeny Tiny Tots.” She was caught in January by an undercover FBI agent monitoring activity in the group, and later admitted to sharing illicit photos more than 50 times, according to court filings.
In one case, agents said, Bowman uploaded photos while at Cynthia’s Little Treasures, a day care run by her grandparents out of their West Philadelphia home, where she once worked as a teacher’s assistant.
Bowman had moved on to another job as a behavioral health technician for ChanceLight Autism Services in Havertown by the time of her arrest this month. The company fired her the next day.
Prosecutors have not accused Bowman of abusing or shooting pornographic images of any children in her care, though the FBI investigation and search of her electronic devices continues.
She told agents she had taken what she described as nonpornographic photos of one child at the autism center and kept them on her cell phone, prosecutors said. But she maintained she was not attracted to children.
If convicted, Bowman would face a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison. She remains in custody at the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia.
Her lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment.