An Arlington man was sentenced on July 15 to 18 years and 10 months in prison for coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity, as well as destruction or removal of property to prevent search or seizure.
According to court documents, Stephen Chadwick Howell, 25, engaged in sexually explicit conversations with at least three minor victims between May 2023 and May 2025. Howell misrepresented his age, sent sexually explicit images of himself, requested and received similar images from the minors, met at least one victim in person for sex acts that he recorded, and distributed those images back to the victim. He also sent money to a 16-year-old who provided him with sexually explicit images later found on his cellphone.
Between January 2023 and January 2024, Howell communicated online with an individual in Brooklyn about their shared interest in child sexual abuse material (CSAM). During these communications, Howell distributed explicit images of minors and sought advice on grooming techniques such as what age he should claim when interacting with victims online. He also asked for help rebuilding his CSAM collection after deleting it.
On May 7, 2025, FBI agents executed a search warrant at Howell’s residence. Instead of complying with orders to exit the home, Howell retrieved two knives from the kitchen and barricaded himself in his bedroom during a nine-hour standoff. During this time, he urinated on his laptop in an attempt to destroy evidence; investigators were able to partially repair the device and recover sexually explicit images of minors.
The case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force with substantial assistance from the FBI’s New York Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Laura D. Withers and Lauren Halper prosecuted the case.
This prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood—a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006—to combat child sexual exploitation through coordination among federal, state, and local resources.