A Cape Girardeau man has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for producing child pornography. U.S. District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. delivered the sentence on Tuesday after Steven Lee Brown, 33, admitted to recording his sexual activity with a minor.
Brown pleaded guilty in December at the U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau to one count of producing child pornography. The case originated when the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff’s Office received a report of Brown's abuse of a 10-year-old child last May. Following an interview with the child that confirmed the abuse, officers acted swiftly and interviewed Brown at his residence.
During this interview, Brown confessed to engaging in various sexual acts with the child and using his cell phone to record some of these activities. Authorities seized Brown's phone and found sexually explicit images of the minor on it. At his guilty plea hearing, he acknowledged using his phone to produce such material.
After completing his prison term, Brown will be under lifetime supervised release.
The investigation was conducted by the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack Koester prosecuting for the government.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse nationwide. The project coordinates federal, state, and local resources to apprehend individuals exploiting children online and rescue victims.
For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc.