CHARLESTON, W.Va – A Kanawha County woman will spend ten years in prison for providing her boyfriend with access to children that he sexually abused.
Vanessa Beauvais, age 38, was sentenced to a decade behind bars on Thursday after pleading guilty to employment or use of a minor to produce obscene matter. Kanawha County Circuit Judge Tera Salango issued the maximum sentence.
Beauvais operated a daycare from her home in South Charleston where she allowed her boyfriend, Christopher Rush, to sexually abuse the children. Rush was sentenced to ten years in prison for the same crime as Beauvais last month.
“As a mother, I cannot understand how you could not see the seriousness of what you were engaging in and how you were feeding this man,” Judge Salango said as she issued Beauvais’s sentence.
Beauvais and Rush were charged following an investigation stemming from Operation Cupid’s Arrow, an initiative spearheaded by the U.S. Marshals Service that resulted in 38 arrests and the recovery of four missing children. Authorities began investigating the pair after an interview with James Lewis, a Putnam County sex offender with whom Rush communicated online.
Investigators determined that Rush shared photos and videos with Lewis showing inappropriate behavior with a two-year-old child. A search of Rush’s phone uncovered images of more children at the daycare.
“You made it very easy for Christopher Rush to live out his sexual fantasies and to engage in the sick behavior and actions that only a sexual predator can do,” Judge Salango told Beauvais.
During the hearing, Kanawha County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Chris Folio made reference to text messages sent by Beauvais to Rush that referenced sexual activity in the presence of her own child. Evidence uncovered by investigators included a video of Beauvais engaged in sexual conduct while children could be heard in the background.
“You used your own child as a prop to feed the sick and disgusting appetite of a sexual predator,” Judge Salango said.
Addressing the court for more than 20 minutes, Beauvais asked for leniency and cited mental health issues, abuse in jail, and a desire to support her children as motivation. It was not granted.
In addition to her prison sentence, Beauvais will be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of her life.