A Greene County man has entered a guilty plea on charges related to the sexual exploitation of children, as well as receipt and possession of child pornography. Stephen Wendell Lutes, 32, admitted to his crimes in federal court, acknowledging the sexual abuse of a young girl starting when she was about 5 years old and continuing until she was about 8.
Lutes also confessed to having produced recordings of some of the abuse and created an additional video that featured another child of similar age in a bathtub without clothes. According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York, the investigation and subsequent guilty plea were the joint effort of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the New York State Police.
Acting U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III stated, "Lutes admitted to heinous sexual exploitation and child pornography crimes. My Office is committed to vigorously investigating and prosecuting child sex predators in coordination with our federal and state partners." He further emphasized the community's enhanced safety with Lutes off the streets. Erin Keegan, the Special Agent in Charge of HSI Buffalo Field Office, conveyed that while justice cannot reverse the trauma of Lutes' actions, she is appreciative of the collaborative work done to confront threats against children.
At his sentencing, scheduled for December 22, Lutes faces a series of severe penalties which include a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 15 years and could extend up to 30 years for each count of sexual exploitation of a child. Furthermore, he could receive an additional five to 20 years for the receipt of child pornography and a maximum of 20 years for possession. Lutes will also be mandated to serve supervised release post-imprisonment, which may last anywhere from five years to life, and will be required to register as a sex offender after his release from prison.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mikayla Espinosa and Michael D. Gadarian are prosecuting the case as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched to aggressively counter the spread of child sexual exploitation and abuse. For more details on Project Safe Childhood and its efforts, the public is encouraged to visit the initiative's website. Restitutions will be due to the victims, and Lutes may also face upwards of $250,000 in fines.
