Mom who let teen daughter strip heading to prison
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SALEM, Ore. -- A Salem woman was sentenced to three years in prison for allowing her 17-year-old daughter to work as a nude stripper.
Christina Marie Lopez pleaded guilty Wednesday to attempted use of a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct.
The issue came to light in December when the 42-year-old Lopez complained to police and media that a strip club had hired her underage daughter.
In an interview with KATU News in December, Lopez said she learned her daughter was stripping when she found high-heeled shoes in her bedroom.
"When I seen they were big and ugly like this, I knew something was up," she said at the time. "It makes me sick. Makes me sick thinking she's 17, but to me she still has a little kid's body."
But video from Presley's Playhouse in Salem showed that Lopez wasn't telling the truth. Lopez knew her daughter was stripping because she can be seen on video placing money down near the stage as her daughter was working.
In a jailhouse interview on Wednesday, Lopez was unapologetic.
"The only thing I did was took my daughter money to eat on," she said. "Like I told my attorney and the DA, I would do it again."
Lopez said she wanted to go to trial but thought the judge was heartless and would give her 20 years. She said she agreed to plead guilty and to register as a sex offender for a decade. But, she said, "I didn't touch anybody."
Her daughter, now 18, said her mother didn't do anything wrong and that it was her choice to strip.
"It's nothing bad. It's not like she prostituted me and she raped a kid," she said.
In December, the teen told KATU she was stripping to make money for her 2-year-old daughter. But Lopez said Wednesday that she was the one taking care of that little girl, who is now in foster care.
"I'm doing time because (my daughter) thinks it's easy money to strip," Lopez said. "And I tell her, I tell her: I'm in here because of you."
Lopez's daughter went on to work as a stripper at another club.
Christina Marie Lopez pleaded guilty Wednesday to attempted use of a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct.
The issue came to light in December when the 42-year-old Lopez complained to police and media that a strip club had hired her underage daughter.
In an interview with KATU News in December, Lopez said she learned her daughter was stripping when she found high-heeled shoes in her bedroom.
"When I seen they were big and ugly like this, I knew something was up," she said at the time. "It makes me sick. Makes me sick thinking she's 17, but to me she still has a little kid's body."
But video from Presley's Playhouse in Salem showed that Lopez wasn't telling the truth. Lopez knew her daughter was stripping because she can be seen on video placing money down near the stage as her daughter was working.
In a jailhouse interview on Wednesday, Lopez was unapologetic.
"The only thing I did was took my daughter money to eat on," she said. "Like I told my attorney and the DA, I would do it again."
Lopez said she wanted to go to trial but thought the judge was heartless and would give her 20 years. She said she agreed to plead guilty and to register as a sex offender for a decade. But, she said, "I didn't touch anybody."
Her daughter, now 18, said her mother didn't do anything wrong and that it was her choice to strip.
"It's nothing bad. It's not like she prostituted me and she raped a kid," she said.
In December, the teen told KATU she was stripping to make money for her 2-year-old daughter. But Lopez said Wednesday that she was the one taking care of that little girl, who is now in foster care.
"I'm doing time because (my daughter) thinks it's easy money to strip," Lopez said. "And I tell her, I tell her: I'm in here because of you."
Lopez's daughter went on to work as a stripper at another club.
