Blake Joseph Steiner, a former contractor from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has been sentenced to 86 months in federal prison for the distribution of child pornography. U.S. District Judge Brian A. Jackson handed down the sentence following Steiner’s conviction. In addition to his prison term, Steiner will serve five years of supervised release and must complete sex offender treatment and register as a sex offender upon his release.
During his plea, Steiner admitted to initiating a conversation with an undercover agent on a mobile application group chat. He sought access to a group dedicated to sharing and trading child pornography by sending the agent a video of himself with the date for identity verification. To further gain access, he sent a video depicting the rape of a girl under 12 years old by an adult male. Steiner also confessed to managing another online child pornography group and engaging in hands-on conduct involving a minor.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security – Homeland Security Investigations and the Louisiana State Police. Assistant United States Attorney Edward H. Warner, who also serves as Deputy Criminal Chief, prosecuted the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. The project aims to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals exploiting children via the Internet while identifying and rescuing victims.
For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit http://www.justice.gov/psc.
