Army Lieutenant Colonel Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Production of Child Pornography Through Social Media and Instant Messaging Apps

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Steven Jon Frederiksen, 42, of Stafford, was sentenced today to 240 months in prison and twenty years of supervised release for production of child pornography and attempted coercion and enticement of a minor using social media and instant messaging apps.

Frederiksen pleaded guilty on Aug. 2, 2016. According to court documents, in November 2015, the FBI received notification that Frederiksen, at the time an employee of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), was utilizing his government-issued laptop to engage in the production of child pornography.  Frederiksen admitted in connection with his plea agreement that he used online chat programs, including Kik, to entice at least four minor girls, ranging in age from 14 to 17, to produce child pornography via the internet, which he then organized and saved in an online cloud storage account.  He attempted to do this with at least two other minor girls. The defendant also possessed additional images of child pornography and exchanged child pornography with other individuals online.

Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; and Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; and Assistant Director in Charge Paul M. Abbate of the FBI’s Washington Field Office made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the Army Criminal Investigative Command in Fort Belvoir.  Special Assistant U.S. Attorney James E. Burke IV and Criminal Division Trial Attorney Lauren Britsch, Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.  Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:16-cr-96.