A Massachusetts man, Steven Tsaitsios, 60, has pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Portland to attempting to transfer obscene materials to a minor. The plea follows an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in which an agent posed as a 13-year-old girl on Facebook.
In May 2023, the undercover HSI agent received numerous friend requests from adult men, including Tsaitsios. During their interactions, Tsaitsios claimed to be 45 years old and living in Massachusetts. He provided his cell phone number for further communication with "Kim," the name used by the undercover agent. Over approximately one month, Tsaitsios sent two sexually explicit images of himself and engaged in explicit conversations with "Kim." These communications were later recovered from his phone and Facebook account.
Tsaitsios admitted during an interview with investigators that he believed "Kim" was a minor. He now faces up to 10 years imprisonment and a maximum $250,000 fine, followed by up to three years of supervised release. Sentencing will occur after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office. A federal district judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The case highlights ongoing concerns about child sexual exploitation online. In 2023 alone, The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) CyberTipline received over 36 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation, including nearly 187,000 reports of online enticement of children for sexual acts.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse.