Hannibal Man Who Hid Camera in Bathroom Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Thursday sentenced a man who hid a video camera in a bathroom to capture images of a young girl to 25 years in prison.

Stephen A. Marquez, 35, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in November to attempted production of child pornography. He admitted placing a video camera disguised as a cell phone charger in a bathroom. He captured nude images of a young girl, who was 13 and 14 when the videos were made. Marquez also had videos of the girl stored on his iPhone.

The investigation began in August of 2022, when the victim reported to law enforcement that Marquez had been sexually abusing her since she was 9 or 10 and had used his cell phone to record her in the shower. The victim said she told Marquez to stop many times but was scared to tell someone about the sexual abuse. She also said she was scared Marquez would hurt her while he was sexually abusing her.

The Hannibal Police Department, the FBI and the St. Charles County Cyber Crime Task Force investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice 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.