Parents in photo flap slam tape release

PEORIA, Ariz. -- The Peoria parents who were investigated for nude photos of their children have criticized police for releasing their taped interviews with detectives.

A.J. and Lisa Demaree said the recordings that were released to the media contained snippets of their interviews and their comments were taken out of context. They also said the interviews were conducted the day that police and state Child Protective Services workers took their three daughters from them. The girls were returned a month later and no charges were filed.

In his interview, released by police, Demaree told officers, "We take pictures of their little naked butts all the time. It's nothing."

Lisa Demaree was asked in a separate interview about naked shots of one of the girls.

"She's just a nudist," the mother responded. "We teach her all the time that she's going to live in a nudist colony. There's no like, pornographic, nothing..."

The girls were 5, 4 and 1 1/2 years old when the photos were taken last year. An employee of a Wal-Mart store, where the photos were developed, called police. Police described the photos as "unusually graphic."

The Demarees were investigated for sexual abuse and their daughters were taken by the state for a month. No charges were filed and the girls were returned to their parents. The Demarees filed two lawsuits last month -- one against Peoria and state officials -- and one against Wal-Mart.

During an interview with detectives, Lisa Demaree said she understood police concerns about the naked pictures.

"I guess it could be perceived, I can see where it would be alarming to you guys if you're seeing all these naked pictures," she said. "But, I encourage you to contact anybody you want and ask them about us and our family."

The Wal-Mart employee who processed the pictures, told investigators she normally scans photos for anything suspicious.

"I personally like to watch photos that are coming out for reasons like that," she said. "After I saw one, I thought `okay.' So I went to the computer and looked at his whole order and scanned through all of them, pulled them all out and put them in an envelope."

She said she contacted her manager, who called police.

Anthony Demaree said in his interview that the photos were not going in a photo album and said they were "absolutely not" intended to be shared with anyone.

The Demarees claim in their suits that "slanderous claims" against them caused them serious economic losses and emotional stress. They are seeking unspecified damages in a jury trial.