San Bernardino County Woman Found Guilty of Obtaining Custody of Infant for the Purpose of Producing Sexually Explicit Videos

          LOS ANGELES – A San Bernardino County woman was found guilty today of federal child exploitation charges, including that she obtained custody of an infant for the purpose of producing sexually explicit videos.

          Stefani Kasey Marie Stevens, 31, of Yucaipa, was found guilty of one count of obtaining custody of a minor with intent to produce child pornography, six counts of production of child pornography, one count of distribution of child pornography, and one count of possession of child pornography. United States District Judge Virginia A. Phillips issued the verdicts today after a four-day bench trial that ended last week.

          Judge Phillips scheduled an April 24, 2023 sentencing hearing, at which time Stevens will face a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

          According to evidence presented at the trial, between August 2019 and November 2019, law enforcement received information that three Kik online messaging application accounts associated with Stevens uploaded child sexual abuse material. Law enforcement also determined that a Google account associated with Stevens had uploaded seven sexually explicit images of the same victim, who was under the age of 12.

          In November 2019, federal agents executed a search warrant at Stevens’ home. During subsequent interviews, Stevens admitted to making sexually explicit videos of herself performing oral sex on the infant victim and that she took eight to 10 nude photographs with a second victim under the age of 12.

          Following the interviews, law enforcement accessed Stevens’ online accounts and learned that, the day before creating the sexually explicit videos of the infant in May 2019, Stevens and a like-minded user had online discussions about how Stevens was excited to take custody of the infant the next day so that she could create videos of herself engaging in sexual activity with the victim.

          Law enforcement also learned that, in addition to the sexually explicit videos of the infant created in May 2019, Stevens took sexually explicit photographs of the infant in June 2019 and of a second victim under the age of 12 in October and November 2018, all of which she stored in an online account, along with hundreds of other child pornography images and videos.

          Homeland Security Investigations and the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department investigated this matter.

          Assistant United States Attorneys Robert S. Trisotto and Sonah Lee of the Riverside Branch Office are prosecuting this case.