Wellington Man Sentenced to 8+Years On Child Pornography Charges

WICHITA, KAN. – A Wellington man was sentenced Monday to 100 months in federal prison for distributing child pornography, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said. In addition, he will serve 10 years on supervised release after his sentence is completed.

Steven J. Meisel, 48, Wellington, Kan., was convicted in a jury trial on one count of distributing child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography. During trial, prosecutors presented evidence that on May 9, 2014, a Wichita police detective downloaded child pornography from Meisel’s computer over the ARES P2P computer network. The files included images of prepubescent children engaged in sex acts. Investigators followed an electronic trail to Meisel’s computer at his residence in Wellington.

Grissom commended the Wichita Police Department, the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office, the Exploited and Missing Child Unit, the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Wellington Police Department and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Hart for their work on the case.