Andrew M. Luger, U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota
A man from Blooming Prairie, Minnesota, has been sentenced to 210 months in prison for the international sexual exploitation of children. This was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick.
Court documents reveal that Steven John Sokel, aged 61, started communicating online with the mother of a young child in Thailand in April 2022. On September 1, 2022, Sokel traveled to Thailand and stayed with the child and her mother for nearly a month. During this period, he produced images involving sexually explicit activities with the minor.
Further details from court documents state that on September 29, 2022, Sokel departed Thailand and had a layover in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. At Abu Dhabi airport's U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) preclearance facility for flights to the United States, officers discovered items such as sexual pleasure devices, handcuffs, and condoms in his luggage. A subsequent search revealed child sexual abuse material on his password-protected laptop.
Sokel was sentenced by Judge Eric T. Tostrud in U.S. District Court on one count of sexual exploitation of children.
The investigation was carried out by Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Campbell Warner prosecuted the case.
