Mother and son arrested after yearslong child sexual abuse investigation

By Jason Burger

Click here for updates on this story

    GUTHRIE, Oklahoma (KOCO) — A lengthy Guthrie Police Department investigation found years of abuse and ended with two people arrested after authorities said hundreds of files containing child sexual abuse material were found.

Those two suspects were a mother and her son, and Guthrie police said they have worked the investigation since 2024.

“A concerned mother called us and stated that Mr. Powell had sent an inappropriate voice message to their child,” said Lt. Jason Hamilton with the Guthrie Police Department.

Hamilton said that’s how the case began in 2024. Two years later, 31-year-old Erin Taylor-Powell and his mother, Daisy Powell, were arrested.

Erin was charged with first-degree rape, pornography and aggravated possession of child sexual abuse material. Daisy was charged with enabling child sexual exploitation.

“I’ve been here for a little over 20 years, and they’ve been here the entire time,” Hamilton said.

Court documents said the abuse goes as far back as 2015. Guthrie police started looking into the allegations in Aug. 2024.

Police obtained search warrants for the house where both suspects were living. Erin’s phone was a key part in the case, and after warrants were executed for his iCloud account, investigators found multiple files and text conversations with buyers.

After his phone was pinged, investigators found Erin in Guthrie getting out of a semi-truck that he was driving.

Just last week, he pleaded not guilty to the crimes.

“It was Detective Solomon’s tenacity for this case, and she’s had it since 2024. She has done multiple search warrants on phones, on iClouds, to find the evidence that was needed, and she found a lot,” Hamilton said.

In a probable cause affidavit for Daisy, it said multiple victims were interviewed, and when one of them told Daisy about a situation in which they were abused, court records said she did not act.

“Daisy did nothing but tell (the victim) to calm down, (the victim) was just dreaming or imagining things,” court documents said.

An investigator also wrote one of the victims said, “Daisy keeps everyone quiet, when I asked why she thought no one ever reported these incidents.”

Erin’s bond has been set at $5 million. Daisy’s is set at $2 million.

Both are in custody.

“I don’t know if we are looking for other victims, but if anybody wants to make contact, they can contact Detective Solomon at the police department number, and they’ll transfer them to her phone,” Hamilton said.

Those with information can contact the Guthrie Police Department at (405) 282-3535.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.