The FBI found images of what appears to be a dead infant with the words "nepi-rape" scrawled on her bare belly during a child pornography investigation, US court records show.
An FBI spokesman declined to say whether the agency believes the infant portrayed in the image is actually dead or if the photo was staged.
He was also unable to say whether the agency had managed to find any of the victims portrayed in more than 1,000 pieces of child pornography discovered in April.
"All I can tell you is an arrest was made and we're conducting an investigation," spokesman Simon Shaykhet told AFP today.
The disturbing images were discovered after a child found a thumb drive on the ground of a park in the small town of Onsted, Michigan.
Among the 1,039 pornographic images found on the thumb drive were 28 which depicted bondage or torture and 10 child pornography videos, including one which depicted bestiality.
"One of the child pornographic images depicted an infant with a bag over her head and a rope around her neck," charging papers filed yesterday said.
"The child appeared deceased and the words 'nepi-rape' was written on her stomach. An internet search revealed that 'nepi-rape' is defined as 'the rape of innocence.'"
The child's family turned the thumb drive over to police, who traced it back to Sean Gossman, who was charged with possession of child pornography.
The papers said during a search of Gossman's mobile home in April, he admitted "he started downloading child erotica, moved onto child pornographic images and most recently downloaded child pornographic movies and video clips."
The charges were filed a day after a woman told police that Gossman had shown pornographic images to her 14-year-old son.
