According to a criminal complaint, the investigation started on Feb. 10 when Senior Trooper J.M. Massile interviewed James Lewis, 59, of Putnam County about an internet crimes against children investigation. Lewis is a registered sex offender.
During that interview, Massile said he learned Lewis had communicated with Rush through an encrypted application on his cell phone.
In those conversations, the trooper said Rush told Lewis he had access to a 2-year-old child and sent pictures and videos of the child to Lewis. Massile said that this included a picture of Rush sexually touching the child, along with videos of him kissing the toddler.
Lewis was arrested the same day he was interviewed and charged with 16 counts of giving false or inaccurate information as a lifetime registered sex offender. He is currently being held in the Western Regional Jail on a $50,000 bond.
The following day, the trooper identified Rush and Beauvais and spoke with them at an apartment in South Charleston.
During the interview, the trooper said he learned that Beauvais babysits children at her home and the children he observed on Lewis' phone are children she watched through her home daycare service.
According to a list of providers from the West Virginia Department of Human Services, Beauvais was licensed for up to six children at her home located at 4401 Jones Street in South Charleston.
Rush was arrested on Feb. 11 and remains in the South Central Regional Jail on a $100,000 cash-only bond.
After seizing Rush's cell phone, troopers said they discovered messages between him and Beauvais that included conversations about Beauvais openly masturbating in front of children while babysitting. Court documents said the evidence also included a video of her masturbating while children could be heard in the background.
"This conversation continues with both Beauvais and Rush speaking about how 'hot' and erotic the sexual conduct around children was to them," Massile said in the criminal complaint.
Beauvais is being held on a $500,000 cash-only bond at the South Central Regional Jail. She has a preliminary hearing in Kanawha County Magistrate Court on March 28 at 2 p.m.