Sparks Resident Sentenced To Over 12 Years In Prison For Coercion And Enticement Of A Child

RENO, Nev. – A Sparks, Nevada, man who posed online as a teenage boy to coerce a teenage girl to send nude photos of herself to him was sentenced Monday to 12 and a half years in federal prison, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas A. Trutanich for the District of Nevada.

Steven Streit, 59, pleaded guilty to coercion and enticement of a minor. In addition to imprisonment, U.S. District Judge Larry R. Hicks sentenced him to a lifetime of supervised release. Under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, he is required to register as a sex offender.

According to court documents, in October and November 2017, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a cybertip advising that suspected child pornography was uploaded to an online file-sharing account. Law enforcement opened an investigation and learned the account belonged to Streit. During the execution of a search warrant at Streit’s apartment, electronic devices and other items belonging to Streit were located and forensically analyzed. During the forensic analysis of the four devices, law enforcement found a total of 560 images and 92 video files of child pornography and chats Streit had with a 12-year-old girl in Florida. In the chats, Streit portrayed himself as a 15-year-old boy and enticed the girl to send sexually explicit videos of herself to him. He saved these video files for himself for later viewing. During an interview with law enforcement, Streit admitted to utilizing a file-sharing network to download and trade child pornography with others, and to having the deceptive online relationship with the 12-year-old girl.

The case was investigated by the FBI and Washoe County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney James Keller prosecuted the case.

To report an incident involving the possession, distribution, receipt, or production of child pornography, contact the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children by phone at 1-800-843-5678 or online at www.cybertipline.com.

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 Criminal Division’s 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.

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