New York, Mar 21 (IANS): A couple in the US has been arrested for allegedly sexually exploiting a 16-month-old baby girl by making her pornographic images and distributing them, a media report said.

Jason Kopp, 40, of Liverpool, and Emily Oberst, 23, of Syracuse in the state of New York were arrested last weekend after they shared the photographs of the abuse on the online messaging app Kik, which allows users to anonymously share photos, messages and videos, syracuse.com reported.

If convicted, the couple face a maximum of 30 years and a minimum of 15 years in jail.

Each charge also comes with a fine of up to $250,000. A court has ordered the couple be held in jail without bail.

Kopp and Oberst were trapped after an undercover police officer posing as customer approached Kopp on his Kik user ID called "daymein39".

The conversations, in which Kopp told the officer a female acquaintance had allowed him to have illicit contact with the baby girl, took place over the course of two weeks. Police later identified the acquaintance as Oberst.

Kopp sent the undercover officer "lewd and lascivious" photographs of the girl and also told him that he had sexually abused the toddler.

Messages and sexually explicit photos were also found on Kopp's mobile phone.