Washington Man Sentenced For Soliciting Sexual Pics From Kids

Parents today have so many more things to worry about when it comes to their kids and their safety.  A big reason for that is technology and how many avenues kids have to use it.  As much as technology is a benefit, it can also be used by bad actors in nefarious ways.

Yet another incident occurred recently where a man attempted to sexually compromise children via social media.  Today, justice was served by the U.S. Attorney's Office - Eastern District of Washington when that individual was sentenced to a lengthy prison stay.

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It Began Nearly Five Years Ago

Evidence presented in court told a sordid story where Bryan Christopher Stevenson, a 43 year-old man from Yakima, targeted at least 8 children across three different states.  Stevenson used different profiles on Instagram and Snapchat to target the kids with a sexual motive in mind.

Prosecutors revealed Stevenson even pretended to be a young girl and a teenage boy as he attempted to get sexual images and videos from the children he was preying upon.  He also offered some children money in exchange for the sexually explicit material.

In an even more disturbing incident, Stevenson attempted to extort a child by claiming he had nude videos of the child and would send them to the child's parents and members of their church if the child didn't send Stevenson sexually explicit videos.

The Damning Evidence Is Disgusting and Disturbing

Investigators found horrific materials on Stevenson's iPad during their investigation.  They discovered 172 pictures and 45 videos of minors, including one victim who was between 4 and 6 years old, engaging in sexually explicit conduct and being sexually abused.

Acting United States Attorney Richard R. Barker had this to say after sentencing

Mr. Stevenson’s conduct was predatory, calculated, and devastating in its impact on vulnerable children.  He used the anonymity of social media to deceive, manipulate, and harm young victims across multiple states.

Barker also went on to call on social media companies with regard to these type of incidents continue to happen on their platforms.

Social media companies like Snapchat and Instagram have the responsibility to do more to ensure their products do not endanger the most vulnerable members of our communities.

Stevenson will spend the next 22 years in federal prison for his crimes with 10 years of supervised release to follow.