A 25-year-old Checotah man has been sentenced to 14 years and eight months in prison for a string of crimes including child exploitation, video voyeurism, attempted sexual abuse, and burglary, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
Tyler James Stephens, a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, was convicted of cyberstalking, video voyeurism, burglary, attempted burglary, attempted sexual abuse, and coercing and enticing a minor, between May 2020 and May 2021.
According to court documents, Stephens roamed Checotah, looking through the windows of residences, and sometimes taking photographs or videos of female victims in various states of undress within their homes. He broke into or attempted to break into the homes of some female victims of whom he had taken surreptitious images.
Stephens also broke into a residence and attempted to sexually assault the resident while her minor child was in the room. In two instances, Stephens accessed a social media account belonging to someone else and used it to solicit nude or private images of minors, including by sending an obscene picture to one of the minors.
Stephens threatened to publicly post a photo of one of the minors and “ruin her life” if she did not comply with his requests.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) with substantial assistance from the Checotah Police Department and Muscogee Nation Lighthorse Police. Trial Attorney Gwendelynn Bills of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the U.S. government.
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Key Facts
- State: Oklahoma
- Category: Sex Crimes|Cybercrime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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