Massachusetts Man Caught in HSI Investigation into Online Child Predators Pleads Guilty to Sending Sexually Explicit Images

PORTLAND, Maine: A Massachusetts man pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Portland to attempting to transfer obscene materials to a minor.

According to court records, in May 2023, a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent in Portland began posing as a 13-year-old girl on Facebook as part of an investigation to identify potential child predators looking to travel to meet minors for the purpose of engaging in unlawful sexual contact. While on the platform, the undercover agent received numerous friend requests from adult men, including from Steven Tsaitsios, 60.

Within the first few conversations, Tsaitsios asked “Kim” her age, and “Kim” told him she was 13. He told the undercover agent that he was 45 years old and lived in Massachusetts, providing his cell phone number so that “Kim” could communicate with him. Tsaitsios communicated with “Kim” for approximately a month during which time he sent two sexually explicit images of himself. The images were later recovered from his phone and sexually explicit conversations were recovered from his Facebook account. In an interview with investigators, Tsaitsios admitted to messaging and having conversations with “Kim” and that he believed her to be a minor.

Tsaitsios faces up to 10 years imprisonment and a maximum $250,000 fine to be followed by up to three years of supervised release. He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office. A federal district judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

HSI investigated the case.

Reports of child sexual exploitation are increasing: In 2023, The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) CyberTipline received more than 36 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation. That included nearly 187,000 reports of online enticement of children for sexual acts and 36 million reports of child sexual abuse materials. Victimization can take place across every platform, including social media, messaging apps, gaming platforms, etc. To make a CyberTipline Report, visit https://report.cybertip.org/.  If you are in Maine and you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted or abused, you can get help by calling the free, private 24-hour statewide sexual assault helpline at 1-800-871-7741.

Project Safe Childhood: 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 the Department’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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, visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-me/psc.

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