Former Trenton Man Sentenced for Producing Child Porn

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a former Trenton, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for attempting to produce child pornography after secretly filming several victims in the shower.

Edward Allen Stieber, 49, of Brookfield, Mo., formerly of Trenton, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips to 25 years in federal prison without parole.

On April 24, 2015, Stieber pleaded guilty to two counts of attempting to use a minor, identified as “Jane Doe,” to produce child pornography on separate occasions between January 2009 and January 2011.

According to court documents, agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Cheyenne, Wyo., initiated an investigation in September 2012 into the activities of a subject utilizing a peer-to-peer file-sharing network to advertise images of suspected child pornography. Agents identified Stieber with the username “kool_uncle.” Steiber was employed as an over-the-road truck driver but at the time maintained a residence in Trenton.

Steiber was scheduled to make a delivery in Harmony, Penn., on Dec. 5, 2012. On that day, federal agents executed a search warrant on Steiber’s semi-truck and seized various electronic media containing images and videos of child pornography. Steiber was arrested and later indicted by a federal grand jury in the Western District of Pennsylvania for possessing child pornography.

Investigators examined Steiber’s computers and computer media and discovered a number of homemade videos of minor females that appeared to have been produced in his home. Agents were able to identify the minor victim, as well as an adult victim and three other minor female victims whom Steiber secretly filmed while they were using the shower in his residence.

According to court documents, Steiber also sexually abused a minor victim who was vulnerable based on issues she was facing as a teenager, and took advantage of his position of trust to exploit their relationship.

Under Department of Justice guidelines, the attempted production of child pornography is ordinarily charged in cases that involve surreptitious recordings. The statutory penalties for producing child pornography are the same as the penalties for attempting to produce child pornography.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Teresa A. Moore. It was investigated by the Wyoming Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Project Safe Childhood

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc . For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources." For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."