DES MOINES, IA - On July 1, 2015, Corey Lee Steffen, 37, of Pleasant Hill, Iowa, was
sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge James Gritzner to a 240 month term of imprisonment on
federal child pornography charges, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas A. Klinefeldt. Judge
Gritzner also sentenced Steffen to 10 years of supervised release after completion of the term of
imprisonment, and Judge Gritzner ordered Steffen to forfeit the computer equipment he used to
commit the crime.
Steffen was caught in 2012 at the Pleasant Hill Public Library using its internet
connection to collect and distribute child pornography on his laptop computer. A forensic
analysis of his computer by law enforcement revealed he had illegally engaged in numerous sex
acts with a 14 year old Minnesota girl in 2010, and video recorded it. He also distributed some
of the videos to a friend in Nevada.
“Our Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force is a partnership of local, state, and
federal authorities who work together to take child abusers like Mr. Steffen out of commission,"
explained U.S. Attorney Nick Klinefeldt. “Protection of children is of critical importance to
national and Iowa law enforcement authorities, and our partnership with law enforcement
agencies like the Pleasant Hill Police Department is invaluable."
The case was investigated by the Pleasant Hill, Iowa, Police Department, the Iowa
Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, and the
Faribault, Minnesota, Police Department.
The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District
of Iowa as part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Childhood" initiative, which
was started in 2006 as a nation-wide effort to combine law enforcement investigations and
prosecutions, community action, and public awareness in order to reduce the incidence of sexual
exploitation of children.
Any persons having knowledge of a child being sexually abused are encouraged to call
the Iowa Sexual Abuse Hotline at 1-800-284-7821.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
