A Massachusetts man has pleaded guilty in a U.S. District Court in Portland to charges related to attempting to transfer obscene materials to a minor. The plea comes as part of an investigation conducted by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) targeting online child predators.
Court records reveal that the investigation began in May 2023 when an HSI agent, posing as a 13-year-old girl on Facebook, sought to identify potential child predators. During this operation, the undercover agent received numerous friend requests from adult men, including Steven Tsaitsios, aged 60.
In their initial interactions, Tsaitsios inquired about "Kim's" age and was informed she was 13 years old. He misrepresented his own age as 45 and shared his Massachusetts location along with his cell phone number for further communication. Over approximately one month of communication with "Kim," Tsaitsios sent two sexually explicit images of himself. These images were later recovered from his phone, along with sexually explicit conversations from his Facebook account. In interviews with investigators, Tsaitsios admitted he believed "Kim" was a minor during their exchanges.
Tsaitsios faces up to ten years imprisonment and a maximum fine of $250,000, followed by up to three years of supervised release. Sentencing will occur after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office. A federal district judge will determine the final sentence based on U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The case highlights ongoing concerns about child sexual exploitation online. In 2023 alone, The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's CyberTipline received over 36 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse through collaboration among federal, state, and local resources.
For those seeking assistance or wishing to report cases of child sexual exploitation or abuse in Maine or elsewhere, resources such as CyberTipline Reports are available online.
