An Irish American New Jersey babysitter has admitted to recording herself molesting a 5-year-old girl left in her care, whilst streaming the abuse over Skype and sending homemade iPhone videos to an acquaintance over the internet.

Jennifer Mahoney, 33, from Manalapan in New Jersey now faces a minimum of 15 years in prison after she plead guilty in federal court on Wednesday to the sexual exploitation of a child.

According to the New York Daily News Mahoney, a former waitress, reportedly confessed to molesting the little girl several times last summer and fall, streaming the abuse over Skype or recording it on her iPhone and then emailing the videos to a man she only knew as 'Robert.'

The court heard that Mahoney had occasionally laughed while performing oral sex on the girl. She also recorded herself abusing the child while she slept or while she took a bath.

Mahoney's lawyer Herbert Ellis told the judge that his client suffered from mental illness, though he didn't elaborate what kind. Later Ellis told reporters that she had tried to kill herself six years ago.

'She's numb,' Ellis told reporters. 'She cannot believe what's happening to her. She's upset with herself.'

Mahoney was arrested in December when authorities found some of her videos on the computer of the Texas man Robert J. Ramos Jr. Mahoney allegedly told Ramos in a Facebook message that she had drugged the child with Xanax, used to treat anxiety and panic disorders.

Ramos, 33, has been charged with production of child pornography and distribution, transmission, receipt and possession of child pornography. The little girl's identity has not been released.