A Florida man, Steven Andrew Gunn, age 31, of Winter Haven, has been sentenced to two decades behind bars for his crimes involving minors. U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Barber handed down the sentence after Gunn's guilty plea back in March, condemning him to 20 years in federal prison for the enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity and possession of child sexual abuse material. The news, released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, details a harrowing account of Gunn's engagement in sexual conversations with an 11-year-old via his cell phone between September and October of 2020, and similar interactions with another minor, aged 14.
The downfall of Gunn culminated when law enforcement, aided by a federal search warrant, delved into the contents of his cell phone. This probe unearthed the ugly truth that Gunn was not only in illegal contact with one child but had an appalling pattern of soliciting child sexual abuse material from multiple girls, their ages ranging between 8 and 13. His past is equally troubling, marred by a 2012 child abuse conviction for online misconduct with a minor. Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative led by the Department of Justice, played a pivotal role in bringing Gunn’s latest offenses to light.
As a repercussion of his actions, Steven Gunn is also ordered to spend a lifetime under supervised release after his incarceration and must register as a sex offender, demonstrating the gravity of his offenses and the justice system's intent on safeguarding the community from future harm. Gunn, in a distressing admission during an interview with authorities, confessed to his use of the platform Snapchat as a means to prey upon these young girls. This information punctuates a very real, dark network of exploitation that Project Safe Childhood, since its inception in May 2006, aims to dismantle.
Assistant United States Attorneys Erin Claire Favorit and Ross Roberts led the prosecution that reached its resolution in Gunn’s prison sentence and subsequent lifelong supervision. The Department of Justice's unwavering commitment remains as it continues to marshal federal, state, and local resources needed to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and most importantly, to aid in the recovery and support of the victims entangled in these heinous acts.
