A 30-year-old Dartmouth woman was sentenced to serve up to 12 years in state prison after being convicted last week of repeatedly raping a pre-teen girl, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III reported.

Kayla Baumgardner pleaded guilty Sept. 21 in Fall River Superior Court to indictments charging her with three counts of statutory rape, three counts of indecent assault and battery on a person under 14, and one count each of providing obscene material to a minor and unnatural acts on a child under 16.

Baumgardner worked with the child’s mother as a certified nursing assistant. She sexually assaulted the victim an estimated 20 to 50 times, would often send the victim nude photos, convinced the victim to send her nude photos and shared pornography with the child, the district attorney reported. 

The defendant also attempted to convince the victim that she was her real mother, prosecutors noted.

The victim’s sibling was also the victim of sexual abuse in a separate case prosecuted by the district attorney’s office. Baumgardner routinely accompanied the mother of the victim to court in that separate case at the same time she was regularly sexually assaulting her daughter, prosecutors noted.

The case was prosecuted by Second Assistant District Attorney Silvia Rudman and the eight to 12-year state prison sentence was imposed by Judge Susan Sullivan. 

Upon release from prison, Baumgardner will be placed on supervised probation with numerous conditions, including GPS monitoring for an additional seven years.

 “This is an egregious example of a breach of trust by the defendant against the victim and her family. It is particularly galling that the defendant was feigning her support of the family in another ongoing sexual abuse prosecution while at the same time repeatedly sexually abusing the victim. To say the least, a substantial prison sentence was warranted,” Quinn said.