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| 8/4/2006 9:00:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article |
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| Todd Stier |
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Plea guilty in child porn case
Jim Brazda
Reporter
Todd Stier, 36, Benning-ton, pleaded guilty to 10 counts of visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct, child pornography in Washington County District Court on Wednesday, August 2.
He could face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, a $25,000 fine or both for each Class III felony charge. The minimum penalty is one year in prison. Stier will also have to register on the Nebraska State Patrol's sex offender registry.
According to the court documents, Nebraska State Patrol investigators had information that someone using an Internet connection billed to an address in Washington belonging to Stier's parents had purchased access to child pornography.
The state patrol was led to Stier by federal agents involved in an international investigation of credit card fraud and child pornography.
The investigation involved Dallas Police and postal inspectors, said Washington County Attorney Shurie Graeve.
After performing a consensual search of two computers at the residence on August 15, 2001, investigators found child pornography on the hard drives.
The images featured young girls, some less than two years old, in sexually explicit situations with older men.
Subsequent investigation and interviews identified Stier as the possessor and distributor of the illicit files seized from the residence.
Stier told investigators they would find child porn at his home in Douglas County as well, Graeve said.
It took nearly four years for the state patrol to submit the case to Washington County for prosecution because of a backlog of computer crimes at the time, Graeve said. S
Stier was arrested in Douglas County on September 15, 2005 and charges were filed in Washington County Court on September 23, 2005. He is currently out on $20,000 bail.
Stier will be sentenced at 9 a.m., September 19, in district court.
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