Steven Edward Meierding Pleads Guilty to Child Sex Trafficking

Steven Edward Meierding, 50, of Minneapolis, Minn., has admitted to trafficking a 17-year-old girl across state lines for sex work, pleading guilty to one count of Sex Trafficking of a Child on October 31, 2016, in U.S. District Court in Fargo, North Dakota. The plea, entered before U.S. District Judge Ralph R. Erickson, exposes a cold, calculated operation that used digital platforms to exploit a vulnerable runaway.

The case erupted into public view when Fargo Police stopped a vehicle and encountered the underage girl during a routine traffic stop in June 2015. What began as a minor violation quickly unraveled into a federal human trafficking investigation. Detectives and Department of Homeland Security Investigators discovered Meierding had picked up the teen at a gas station in Minneapolis, taken her to his residence, and photographed her for use in prostitution ads posted on Backpage.com.

Between May 2015 and June 15, 2015, Meierding transported the girl to Fargo, dropping her off at a residence occupied by co-defendant Brenda Godoy. He returned to Minneapolis but never completed the circuit to retrieve her—law enforcement intervened when the girl was found during the traffic stop. Electronic evidence seized during the probe confirmed Meierding and Godoy received portions of the money earned from the girl’s commercial sex acts.

Prosecutors say the digital paper trail left by Meierding was damning: messages, ad posts, and financial records all pointed to a coordinated effort to profit from the sexual exploitation of a child. The use of Backpage.com—a notorious hub for illicit sex ads—highlights the evolving tactics traffickers use to remain hidden in plain sight while victimizing minors.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Puhl is handling the prosecution, with support from the North Dakota Human Trafficking Task Force (NDHTTF), a multi-agency coalition led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), and the North Dakota Council on Abused Women Services (CAWS). The task force combines law enforcement muscle with victim services to dismantle trafficking networks and rescue those ensnared in them.

Sentencing is scheduled for January 24, 2017, at the U.S. District Court in Fargo. The investigation was conducted by Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations, the Fargo Police Department, and the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Meierding now faces life-altering consequences for preying on a child in one of the most degrading forms of exploitation known to law enforcement.