A California babysitter who advertised her services as being tailored for children with special needs instead used that role to exploit young girls, some as young as three, and allowed her boyfriend to abuse them.
On Thursday, 31-year-old Brittney Mae Lyon broke down in tears as she was sentenced to 100 years in prison for sexually assaulting at least four girls entrusted to her care. Prosecutors said she and her boyfriend, Samuel Cabrera, also 31, built a calculated system of abuse.
Lyon had pleaded guilty in May to two felony counts of committing lewd acts on a child and two counts of forcible lewd acts on a child, according to the San Diego District Attorney’s Office.
Two of the victims had been diagnosed with autism, and one was nonverbal.
According to prosecutors, Lyon and Cabrera coordinated regularly to arrange access to the children. She either brought the girls to Cabrera’s home or allowed him into her own residence while she was babysitting them.
At times, Lyon participated in the assaults alongside Cabrera, and on other occasions, she abused the children by herself.
Prosecutors said she also obtained drugs and other items to facilitate the exploitation of the young girls.
The abuse came to light in 2016, when a 7-year-old told her mother she no longer wanted to go anywhere with Lyon, a trusted family friend. Alarmed, the child’s mother reported her concerns to police, leading to Lyon’s arrest.
Authorities located Cabrera after a brief police chase.
Police discovered a double-locked safe inside Cabrera’s car, containing six computer hard drives containing hundreds of videos depicting the couple sexually abusing the children and, at times, drugging or assaulting them, with extreme cruelty and brutality.
Dozens of videos recorded by Lyon captured women and girls in clothing store fitting rooms, bathrooms, and locker rooms throughout North County.
A search was launched for other victims, and the families of the 3-year-old children came forward, claiming they had hired Lyon through a babysitting website.
The victims’ families speak during the sentencing hearing in Lyon.
Lyon received a sentence of 100 years to life in prison on August 14.
Cabrera was convicted by a jury in 2019 and sentenced to eight life terms without parole in 2021.
California parole laws allow Lyon to apply for parole upon turning 50, meaning she could serve 28 years in state prison.
“Following the heinous sex crimes Brittney Lyon committed against minors, District Attorney Summer Stephan did her duty and secured a just sentence of 100 years to life in prison,” said State Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones after the sentencing.
“Now is the time for the state to do its duty and carry out that sentence for the sake of the victims. It is shameful that a loophole in California law could allow Lyon to be released after serving less than a third of her sentence.”
Golden State politicians introduced Senate Bill 286, which aims to amend current state law and exclude convicted sex offenders from applying for elder parole.
A separate proposal, Assembly Bill 47, seeks to prevent sex offenders from being eligible for early parole under the elder parole law.
Both bills are in limbo, in the “suspense file” of the respective chambers’ Appropriations Committee.
San Diego District Attorney Summer Stephan defends the bills as a measure to protect the community from violent and murderous sexual offenders.
“The victims, their families, and the safety of all California children should be the priority, not Ms. Lyon and other violent child abusers like her. Fifty is hardly an advanced age, especially in the realm of child abusers, who only need to be in a position of trust and power to access and sexually abuse children.”
