A North County babysitter who admitted taking young girls in her care — including a non-verbal special-needs child — to her boyfriend so he could molest them was sentenced Thursday to 100 years to life in prison.
Brittney Mae Lyon, 31, pleaded guilty in May in Vista Superior Court to two counts of lewd act upon a child and two counts of a forcible lewd act upon a child, and admitted additional allegations of kidnapping, residential burglary and sexually assaulting multiple victims.
Lyon and then-boyfriend Samuel Cabrera were arrested in 2016, shortly after one of the 7-year-olds told her mother she no longer wanted to go anywhere with Lyon, a longtime family friend who also babysat the girl. The child then disclosed the abuse.
The ensuing investigation led Carlsbad police to Cabrera, then 22, and a search of his car turned up a double-locked box containing six computer hard drives with hundreds of videos of the molestations. Some encounters were caught on multiple cameras at varying angles, according to prosecutors, who also said that at times victims were drugged.
Faced with unknown victims on the tapes, police went public in search of parents who’d hired Lyon, then 22 years old and a San Marcos resident who was studying child development and had advertised her caregiving services on a babysitting website.
The District Attorney’s Office said the parents of three of the victims met Lyon through the babysitting services site, where Lyon “touted her interest in working with special needs children.”
One woman saw a news story on the case and reached out to police, only to learn that her 3-year-old daughter was on one of the tapes. Another victim was a developmentally delayed 7-year-old girl on the autism spectrum, who at the time was not able to bathe or dress herself. Nor could she speak.
Prosecutors have said Lyon and Cabrera met in high school, that he initially had persuaded her to secretly videotape women changing in dressing rooms and gym locker rooms. They said it progressed to Cabrera asking Lyon to bring her charges to his home. Prosecutors said she also participated in some of the abuse.
In 2019, it took a North County jury about two hours to find Cabrera guilty. He was sentenced to eight terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus 300 years.
Lyon’s case was slowed in part by long courtroom closures due to COVID-19 and in part by multiple changes of attorneys. Over nine years, Lyon was represented by three defense attorneys — a public defender, then private counsel, then a different public defender.
In court Thursday, the parents of the victims spoke of the betrayal they felt by Lyon. One mother said Lyon had “used her credentials,” such as studying child development, “to lull us into a state of comfort so we didn’t feel like we had to ask a lot of questions about what Brittany did with our daughter when they were together.” What she thought was a special trip for their daughter to play places were “molestation sessions,” the mother said.
In court Thursday, Lyon’s defense attorney, Sloan Ostbye, read aloud a statement written by Lyon.
“For nine years, I’ve thought about what I would say today. I’ve come to the conclusion that there are no words that would make any of the harm and trauma I’ve caused any better,” the statement reads in part. “The words ‘I’m sorry’ are far too simple for the amount of trauma I’ve caused and the amount of regret that I feel.”
Some of the parents say the sentence is not good enough. While Cabrera is not eligible for parole, Lyon is. And there is a chance she could be released after serving less than a third of her sentence.
“It’s a slap in the face to drag us through this field of broken glass for 10 years only to give Brittney a break,” the mother of one victim said.
California law has changed to allow for “elder parole,” in which incarcerated people who have served at least 20 years of their sentence can petition for a parole hearing when they hit age 50. Legislative efforts to carve out sex offenders from eligibility have stalled, but the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office has continued to push for the change.
“The age of 50 is hardly ‘elderly,’ particularly in the realm of child molesters, who need only be in a position of trust and power to access and sexually abuse children,” District Attorney Summer Stephan said in a news release Thursday regarding the Lyon sentencing.
Deputy District Attorney Jodi Breton acknowledged in court that her office had agreed to the plea deal. “Our hope is that this case will bring attention to Sacramento and the public at large, that 100 years to life should mean 100 years or something very close to it.”