PHOENIX, Arizona (KPHO) - Police said a teacher's aid at an Arizona elementary school admitted to prostituting herself after leaving her 6-year-old daughter with homeless people at a park in Mesa.
Mesa police say 43-year-old Laurie Lee Kelly -- a teacher's aid at Whitman Elementary School -- left her daughter with transients at Evergreen Park for about four hours, Tuesday afternoon.
She told officers she gave them beer to watch the child, while she sold her body for sexual favors.
"This lady brought by her little daughter and said can you watch her?" said Ronald Baker, who was in the park.
Maureen Wilson, another witness, said Kelly told her that she was going to "work for some money." Later, Wilson said a shopkeeper told her that Kelly was prostituting herself in front of her business.
According to the police report, Kelly told officers she knew what she did was wrong, but she felt a "manic sexual rage" she couldn't control.
During her initial court appearance, Kelly admitted she put her daughter in a dangerous situation. She faces a felony child abuse charge.
"I have two children. I endangered one child," said Kelly in court.
Kelly was released from jail on her own recognizance, but was told she must have no contact with children younger than 16.
