A Tooele man pleaded guilty today to sexually abusing his 14-year-old foster daughter in a case that has also led to charges against his wife and two other Tooele residents.

Jeffrey Allen Lake, 45, appeared in 3rd District Court today, where he pleaded guilty to one count of forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony.

Lake admitted to touching the 14-year-old girl?s breasts while she was in his care. Lake will remain in the Tooele County Detention Center until his sentencing Aug. 28.

Lake?s wife, Beth Lake, was also indicted by a federal grand jury in May on one count of production of child pornography. She has been charged with taking sexually explicit photos of the girl and is being held pending a federal trial. Beth Lake appeared in federal court May 14 for a detention hearing where U.S. Magistrate Judge Samuel Alba found her to be a danger to the community. She is being held at the Tooele County Detention Center until her trial. She will appear before Judge Paul Casell in Salt Lake City for a pre-trial hearing Oct. 24.

The police investigation began this spring after the girl told a friend she had been abused. The friend had reportedly received sexually explicit photos of the girl on his cell phone, after which he reported the incident to Tooele City Police.

Federal agents, who served a search warrant on the home, confiscated cell phones and the home computer. The Lake home, at 600 North and 350 West, is now being sold due to foreclosure.

An FBI spokesman said he could not comment on the case because it was still under investigation.

The federal government, in partnership with state and local government, kicked off Project Safe Childhood this spring. It is designed to combat the proliferation of technology-facilitated sex crimes against children, including the production and distribution of child pornography and the use of computers, cell phones and digital cameras to lure children into dangerous situations. The partnership creates mandatory minimum sentences, although most of the perpetrators are prosecuted at a local level.

If Beth Lake is convicted, the mandatory minimum sentence is 15 years in federal prison. As Utah has no federal prison, Lake would be sent out of state. Federal sentences also offer no parole or early release for prisoners.

Jeffrey Lake was arrested in May after he told investigators that he had grabbed the girls breasts and buttocks. He also said, according to reports, that the girl was coming on to him and wanted him to touch her. He told investigators he was aware that sexually explicit photos had been taken of the girl.

According to the probable cause report, the Lakes were trying to adopt the victim at the time she told her friend she was being abused. According to sources who knew the family, the Lakes had wanted a teenage daughter to bring in baby-sitting jobs and earn money for them.

In addition to the Lakes, police arrested Douglas Scott Rose, 41, of Tooele.

According the probable cause statement, Rose, a family friend, gave the girl $25 in January to participate in a sex act with him.

Rose pleaded guilty June 12 to one count of forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony. He will be sentenced Aug. 7.

A juvenile was also arrested in the case for similarly abusing the girl.