Thursday, June 4, 1998 | 10:19 a.m.
A 34-year-old woman accused of using her 13-year-old daughter as a pawn in an apparent attempt to shake down an 18-year-old man has been arrested, police say.
The mother was arrested on allegations of sexual exploitation and gross negligence of a child. She was booked into the Clark County Detention Center Wednesday night and her daughter was taken into protective custody, said Lt. Tom Monahan of the Metro Police sex crimes unit.
Monahan said the mother met the 18-year-old through a chat room on the Internet and invited him to live with her and her daughter.
"She said she was trying to marry her daughter off," Monahan said.
He said the 18-year-old lived with the woman and her daughter at least two weeks, and perhaps longer, and at some point the mother said her daughter was 17.
When the young man started to move out, Monahan said, the mother told him her daughter was only 13 and was pregnant and that he needed to give them some money.
Monahan said the daughter was in fact 13, but not pregnant.
The 18-year-old was not arrested, Monahan said, adding that the investigation is continuing.
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