A former Navy employee pleaded guilty to the production, transportation, and possession of child pornography Tuesday.
Spencer Steckman, 35, formerly of Silver Spring, Md., was detained by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service in Japan in March 2018. He was then transported to Maryland by the U.S. Marshals Service to appear in U.S. District Court, according to the Department of Justice.
Between August and September 2017, Steckman enticed a 13-year-old boy to send footage of himself engaging in sexually explicit acts in exchange for money or PlayStation redemption codes.
Steckman enticed another 13-year-old boy to take similar photographs around the same time in exchange for an iPhone.
In November 2017, Steckman transported these photographs to Japan, where he worked with Commander Navy Region Japan.
Further investigation showed that Steckman enticed eight other children, aging from age 12 to 17, to produce child pornography between 2008 and 2010.
This investigation was part of Project Safe Child, the DOJ’s nationwide initiative that launched in 2006 to combat the child-exploitation epidemic.
Steckman has been in custody since his original detainment in Japan and will be sentenced Nov. 7, 2019.
The DOJ announced Tuesday that nearly 1,700 alleged online sexual predators were arrested in April and May during an operation called “Broken Heart.”
