Multiple Children - 3-15 yo(2009)/ Accused: Steven Demink - Several States

Michigan man Steven Demink conned moms to sexually abuse their own children: authorities

BY MICHAEL SHERIDAN
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, March 01, 2011

A sicko who admitted to sexually exploiting children somehow managed to persuade the kids' own mothers to carry out his twisted fantasies, authorities in Detroit said Monday.

Prosecutors said one-time car salesman Steven Demink targeted vulnerable single moms through online dating websites, then through Web chats and emails, claiming he was a psychologist and promising his sex therapy would help their troubled children.

His therapeutic suggestions allegedly included having the women be nude with their children as well as perform sexual acts with them.

In one case, Demink -- who used the alias Dalton St. Clair -- started online chats with an Oregon woman about the sexual development of her 8-year-old autistic son, The Associated Press reported.

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Steven Demink pled guilty to six charges of
sexual exploitation of children,… (U.S. Marshals Service)

The 41-year-old told the unidentified woman to engage in sexually explicit conduct with her son as a way to teach him about sex, according to the plea agreement. She did as instructed while he watched on a Web camera.

In other cases, the mothers would send Demink photos showing them abusing their children, the Detroit Free Press reported.

Several of those mothers since have been arrested and all of the children -- who ranged in age from 3 to 15 -- were taken into protective custody.

Demink is accused of having communicated with women in several states, including New Hampshire, Florida, Illinois, Florida, Oregon and Georgia.

Demink's alleged scam went on for nearly a year, until a mother of one of the women in Idaho reported their conversations to authorities in December 2009.

"I don't know how he wrangled her in," Eileen Schwab said, according to The AP. "She could have turned off the computer and gone the other way. He must have had a power over her."

Her daughter pleaded guilty last May to lewd conduct with a child under 16 and is currently in prison.

Demink told prosecutors he convinced the women that he was a single parent, just like them and had one 14-year-old girl, court documents said. He met the females through websites such as singleparentmeet.com and used head shots of male models in place of his actual picture.

In truth, Demink worked as a car salesman for several months before spending five years working at a bank, prosecutors said. He later worked for the Immigration and Naturalization Service and spent only two years in college.

Demink pleaded guilty Monday to six charges related to the sexual exploitation of children. He faces 15 years to life in jail.

Seven other charges were dropped as part of his plea deal.

Steven Demink pleads guilty to duping moms into abusing kids/ His sentencing is scheduled for June/ Mothers are being charged and sentenced too


by Wrapitup on Tue Mar 01, 2011 9:41 amBy JEFF KAROUB, Associated Press Jeff Karoub, Associated Press – 7 mins ago



DETROIT – In real life, Steven Demink didn't have children, a college degree or a lasting career. Online, prosecutors say, he presented himself as Dalton St. Clair, an attractive single father and psychologist — a fantasy image authorities say the Michigan man used to persuade mothers across the country to commit unspeakable acts on their children.

Demink, 41, of Redford Township, preyed on single mothers for more than a year, prosecutors say, convincing them to sexually assault their children as a form of therapy.

After pleading guilty Monday to six charges related to the sexual exploitation of children, Demink faces 15 years to life in prison when he is sentenced in June.

Demink's alter-ego was a single father of a 14-year-old girl, prosecutors said, and he posted pictures of male models as his headshots. In some cases, court documents say, Demink promised the women a date if they followed through with his directions.

Since authorities arrested him in October, seven children were rescued and at least three mothers have been arrested.

Prosecutors say all of the children are now safe.

Authorities say Demink chatted with mothers from New Hampshire, Florida, Idaho and elsewhere, persuading them to engage in sexual acts with their children and send images via e-mail or through a live web stream. The children ranged in age from 3 to 15.

Demink told U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen that before his arrest, he worked as a car salesman for about six months and before that for about five years at a local bank. He said he completed a U.S. Customs and Border Protection training program in 2002 and worked for the Immigration and Naturalization Service for about a year. He attended college for about two years but did not earn a degree, he said.

As part of his plea agreement with prosecutors, seven charges against Demink were dropped.

In one case, Demink started online chats with an Oregon woman about the sexual development of her 8-year-old autistic son, according to the plea agreement. He told her to engage in sexually explicit conduct with her son as a way to teach him about sex, prosecutors say, and she did so while Demink watched on a web camera.

"Demink intimated to these women that the result of the therapy would be healthier children," the document said.

Federal agents were tipped off to his operation by the Teton County Sheriff's Office in Idaho, said Khaalid Walls, a spokesman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of Homeland Security Investigations. The mother of a woman who had been chatting with him called sheriff's officials in late 2009.

A Teton County Sheriff's Office report from December 2009 said the Idaho woman met "Daltonst28" on an online dating site called singleparentmeet.com. She told police she performed sex acts on her young son as directed by her online male friend.

The woman's mother, Eileen Schwab of Idaho, said she knows little of how Demink convinced her daughter to follow his orders.
She said her daughter was "depressed and lonesome" after her divorce.

"I don't know how he wrangled her in," Schwab said. "She could have turned off the computer and gone the other way. He must have had a power over her."

Her daughter pleaded guilty last May to lewd conduct with a child under 16 and is currently in prison.

Another mother who was arrested was from New Hampshire and pleaded guilty in December to producing child pornography, which carries a possible sentenced of 15 to 30 years in prison. She is scheduled to be sentenced in March. The Associated Press left a message seeking comment from Larry Dash, a federal defender representing her.

A woman from Lee County, Fla., also has pleaded not guilty to five counts and was being held without bond in Florida. She faces a May trial in federal court in Fort Myers, federal defender Martin DerOvanesian said.

Prosecutors say Demink also is linked to four other mothers in Indiana, Georgia, Illinois and Oregon but has not been charged with crimes related to those communications. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Mulcahy said those cases can be considered during sentencing.

The Associated Press is not naming the women to protect the identity of the children. The AP generally does not identify victims of sexual abuse.

Demink's attorney, Timothy Dinan, said his client "has expressed a lot of remorse" for what he did and has taken responsibility by pleading guilty. Dinan said Demink's parents, who declined to be interviewed, are praying for their son as well as the victims and their families.

"It's a shame he couldn't ask for help," Dinan said.

He convinced mothers to molest their own children and then watched the sex acts on the Internet.
For
this, Steven Demink -- dubbed by one federal magistrate as "a cyber
predator of the worst kind" -- is going to prison for the rest of his
life.
Demink, 41, a former car salesman from Redford Township, was
sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court before Judge Gerald Rosen,
four months after pleading guilty to his role in an Internet sex scheme
that involved the abuse of 12 children by seven mothers -- all at his
behest.
"This sentence reflects the outrageous harm this predator
inflicted on innocent children," U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said. "In
some ways, the defendant has already imposed a life sentence on them."
According
to court records, Demink used a fictitious persona -- Dalton St. Clair,
a young, single father -- to meet single mothers online.
He
encouraged and enticed the moms to sexually assault their children and
send images or provide him with live Web camera access of the conduct,
records show.
In one case, Demink pretended to be a psychologist,
telling a mother he could help her deal with a child who had mental
health issues by helping her get closer to that child, records show.
Criminal
charges also were filed against the mothers, who live in New Hampshire,
Florida and Idaho. Two of them have pleaded guilty.
Demink's
indictment resulted from a U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement
investigation that originated at a bus stop in Idaho and spanned from
Florida to Virginia.
At the bus stop, in December 2009, a
grandmother asked her 5-year-old grandson whether he had fun the night
before while visiting his mother.
"The boy surprisingly said no.
The boy told his grandmother that his mother forced him to undress," and
then molested him, court records show.
That disclosure spurred the investigation into a mysterious man named Dalton St. Clair, who turned out to be Demink.
"I'm
not unsalvageable," Demink said at his sentencing. "I still think I can
be a productive member of society without the court worried about me
re-offending.
"I did not think of what consequences my actions
were going to produce. I hope they can find it in their hearts one day
to forgive me for what I have done. I need help and I want help."


http://www.freep.com/article/20110804/NEWS01/108040517/Man-gets-life-enticing-moms-abuse-kids-online