Steven M. Stathas, Child Sexual Abuse, Wisconsin 2023

West Bend Man Sentenced to 15 Years for Child Sexual Abuse

A 33-year-old West Bend man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for using a computer to attempt to persuade, induce, and entice a minor to engage in unlawful activity.

Steven M. Stathas, of West Bend, Wisconsin, was sentenced on December 20, 2023, by United States District Judge Brett H. Ludwig to 180 months' imprisonment. Stathas will also serve 10 years of supervised release and pay a $100 special assessment.

According to court filings, Stathas began communicating online with a 15-year-old girl who lived in Kentucky in late 2021. He traveled from Wisconsin to Kentucky on multiple occasions and engaged in various sex acts with the victim. On November 28, 2021, Stathas picked the victim up from her family home without her parents' consent or knowledge and drove her to his home in Wisconsin, where he was apprehended by the West Bend Police Department.

When imposing sentence, Judge Ludwig noted that Stathas's behavior had left a permanent scar on the victim's life. He stated that there was no justification for what occurred and that grown men cannot victimize teenage girls without facing consequences.

This case was investigated by the West Bend Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Megan J. Paulson and Trial Attorney William G. Clayman of the United States Department of Justice's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet and to identify and rescue victims.

Stathas was required to register as a sex offender after being convicted of two felony sex offenses against minors.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edwi/pr/west-bend-man-sentenced-federal-child-sexual-abuse-charge