A 35-year-old Cottage Grove woman has been indicted by a federal grand jury on two counts of producing child pornography.
Roxanne Merrell appeared Thursday in Minneapolis before U.S. Magistrate Judge Janie Mayeron, who set a number of conditions for Merrell's release pending a trial, including home detention and the setting of a $25,000 bond.
According to the indictment and documents filed in court, Merrell was offered $100,000 to take photos depicting a minor "below the waist" and nude, which she took while the child was sleeping. The photographs were discovered in North Dakota on the computer of a known sex offender who was seeking to meet children. Merrell's hands appeared in at least one such photograph, and she was identified as the producer and sender of the images.
Jim Anderson
