Steven Douglas Crook, Sexual Exploitation of a Child, Iowa 2019

DES MOINES, Iowa – A local man has been sentenced to life behind bars for his role in the sexual exploitation of a minor.

Steven Douglas Crook, Jr., of Bloomfield, Iowa, was sentenced to the maximum penalty of 120 years in prison on June 3, 2019, by United States District Court Judge Stephanie M. Rose. The 120-year sentence is effectively a life sentence.

Crook pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual exploitation of a child. The evidence in the case showed that Crook sexually abused a little girl from the time she was an infant until she was six years old. During this time, he took photographs and videos of the abuse, and in some cases, livestreamed it using the social media application Live.me.

Crook encouraged his followers on Live.me to watch him rape the girl live on the Internet. Judge Rose described Crook’s crimes as ‘horrific’ and noted that he controlled the victim and hid his crimes for years.

The judge called Crook’s actions ‘insidious,’ ‘thoughtful,’ and ‘manipulative.’ She explained that the 120-year sentence was necessary because Crook remains ‘so very dangerous’ to children in the community.

U.S. Attorney Marc Krickbaum stated that the case is a priority for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa. He explained that any time a child is abused in Iowa and there are photographs or videos of the abuse, the defendant can be prosecuted in federal court and face decades, if not life, behind bars.

Krickbaum added a warning about those who remain silent in the face of child abuse. He stated that in this case, the abuse went undetected for years because family members failed to report it to authorities. He urged anyone who believes a child may be a victim of abuse to report the suspected abuse to law enforcement immediately.

The case was investigated by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Federal Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation Task Force, Bloomfield Police Department, Davis County Sheriff’s Office, and the Davis County Attorney’s Office, with critical assistance from the National Center For Missing and Exploited Children.

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