Previous sex offender sentenced to 27 years in prison for attempted coercion and child pornography

BILLINGS – A previous sex offender from Billings who attempted to obtain nude photos from a person he thought was 12 years old was sentenced today to a total of 324 months in prison to be followed by lifetime supervised release. supervised release, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.

Steven Dwyane Scott, 51, was found guilty at a September 2025 trial of one count of attempted coercion and enticement and one count of possession of child pornography.  Mr. Scott was also ordered to pay a total of $17,200 in special assessments.

U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided.

The government alleged in court documents and at trial that in March 2024, law enforcement, acting in an undercover capacity and posing as a 12-year-old juvenile female, electronically reached out to Scott on Facebook. Scott accepted the invite and the two parties began conversing. The communications eventually transitioned to KIK.

The communications lasted from roughly March 7, 2024, until May 28, 2024. During the chats, Scott was put on notice of the “child’s” age, indicated he should not be talking to her yet continued, and sought pictures of her, including nude pictures. On May 21, 2024, Scott sent the “child” images of a gift card and payment for possible nude images from her. Scott provided instructions to the undercover officer as to the best way to verify money was on the card. Thereafter, on May 27, 2024, Scott sent a $25 Amazon gift card to the “child,” again for the purpose of obtaining images from the child. The last communication law enforcement received from Scott was on May 28, 2024.

When law enforcement reached out to Scott, he was a registered sex offender following a 1997 conviction for Sexual Abuse of a Minor in the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota.

Several years before the conduct in this case, in 2018, Scott corresponded with multiple juvenile females online. One of those children was Jane Doe 1. A law enforcement investigation stemming from Jane Doe 1’s disclosure led to a search warrant of Scott’s Snapchat account and the discovery of his interest in juvenile females. Sexually explicit images of a different victim, Jane Doe 2, were discovered on Scott’s Snapchat account.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Zeno Baucus prosecuted the case. The investigation was conducted by the FBI, Montana Department of Criminal Investigations, the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office and the Townsend, Massachusetts Police Department.

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 Justice.gov/PSC.

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