CARLSBAD (CBS 8) - Carlsbad police asked Thursday for anyone who hired a babysitter that - along with her boyfriend - has been accused in the sexual assaults of two 7-year-old girls, to come forward because investigators believe there are additional victims.
Brittney Mae Lyon, who also went by Lauren Allen, advertised her babysitting services on care.com, sitter.com and sittercity.com prior to her arrest July 6, 2016, on suspicion of eight counts of lewd and lascivious acts on children, according to Carlsbad police.
"There may be additional children who had been molested by Samuel Cabrera and Brittney Lyon, but trying to identify who those children are is very difficult," said Captain Mickey Williams, Carlsbad Police Department.
Lyon, 23, is suspected of videotaping as her boyfriend, Samuel Cabrera Jr., also 23, allegedly molested two girls she was babysitting on multiple occasions over several months.
"She promised them that she would be taking them to do something fun and that she was requesting to be able to observe them for purposes of her child development class," said Jodi Breton, D.A.
Lyon and Cabrera, who faces the same charges, are each jailed on $2.6 million bail. Both are due in court for a readiness conference June 13.
Investigators believe there may be more alleged victims in the case, who may be as far away as San Bernardino, Riverside and Los Angeles.
Anyone who had used Lyon as a babysitter or knows someone who did was asked to call Carlsbad police Detective Steve Stallman at 760-931-2293.
Statement from Sittercity to CBS News 8:
At Sittercity, trust and safety are paramount. In July 2016, we learned that Brittany Lyons advertised on childcare websites, and we immediately reached out to law enforcement to offer our assistance in their investigation. Our own investigation did not show any connection to Sittercity families. Our hearts go out to the families who are affected by this horrific situation.
Statement from Care.com spokesperson to CBS News 8:
"This incident is very troubling to us, and our thoughts are with any impacted family. Care.com can confirm that it has followed its account closure practices in relation to this matter, and that it has and will continue, if needed to cooperate with law enforcement. As this is an active investigation, we will not comment further."
V.P. of Operations at Sitter.com Brian Sharwood on the phone from Ontario,told CBS News 8:
"Brittney Lyon had an account with them, she was flagged by another user shortly before the investigation and her account was shutdown. She did not make any connections with clients or potential clients."
As stated in the Facebook post below, City of Carlsbad PD has apologized for previously releasing an incorrect photo of a person actually named Lauren Allen who is "in no way suspected of any wrong doing."
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