Dallas Man Sentenced To 60 Months In Federal Prison For Possessing Child Pornography

FORT WORTH, Texas — Robert A. Steffens, 60, of Dallas, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means to 60 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in November 2012 to one count of possession of child pornography. Judge Means ordered that Steffens surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on July 22, 2013. Today’s announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas.

According to documents filed in the case, last summer, a laptop computer containing child pornography was turned in to the Fort Worth Police Department. It was determined that the laptop belonged to Steffens. Pursuant to a search warrant, the contents of the laptop were searched and child pornography was found.

In late August 2012, after being contacted by law enforcement, Steffens met with an officer at the Fort Worth Police Department and brought another laptop computer and external drive with him to the meeting. After obtaining a state search warrant for both, a forensic examination revealed both items contained child pornography. Steffens admitted that he had sought out child pornography on the Internet using search terms. He also admitted that he had deleted the images on the laptop and the external drive before bringing them in to the officer.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative, which was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/. For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ and click on the tab “resources.”

The investigation was conducted by the Fort Worth Police Department, with assistance from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Assistant U.S. Attorney Aisha Saleem prosecuted.