Zionsville Firefighter Paramedic Sentenced to 8 Years in Federal Prison for Distributing and Possessing Child Sex Abuse Material

INDIANAPOLIS – Daniel Stevens, 48, of Whitestown, Indiana, was sentenced to eight years in federal prison after pleading guilty to distribution and possession child sex abuse material.

According to court documents, Stevens was a firefighter paramedic in the Town of Zionsville, Indiana, and was also employed by a local hospital in Indianapolis. Unbeknownst to his employers and without their consent, Stevens used their internet connection to distribute numerous images and videos depicting child sex abuse material to others over social media. Stevens also used his tablet to store thousands of images and videos depicting prepubescent children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Some of the children depicted in the images and videos were infants, babies, and toddlers. Stevens also viewed and saved material that depicted sadomasochistic sexual abuse of children.

Zachary A. Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, and Herbert J. Stapleton, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Indianapolis Field Office, made the announcement.

U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Assistant United States Attorney Tiffany J. Preston, who is prosecuting this case.

The FBI’s Violent Crimes Against Children Task Force investigated the case. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson. As part of the sentence, Judge Stinson ordered that Stevens be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for ten years following his release from federal prison and ordered Stevens to pay $12,000 in restitution to each of the minor victims depicted in the images and videos he distributed and possessed. Stevens must also register as a sex offender wherever he lives, works, or goes to school, as required by law.

In fiscal year 2019, the most recent year for which data is available, the Southern District of Indiana was second out of the 94 federal districts in the country for the number of child sexual exploitation cases prosecuted.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc