A Juneau man previously convicted of possessing child pornography was arrested last week on a federal charge involving production of such pornography, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Anchorage announced Friday.
William Steadman, 34, is charged with sexual exploitation of a child, according to a press release issued by the office. An initial court appearance took place Thursday in federal court in Anchorage, with Steadman participating remotely from Juneau.
Steadman is incarcerated at Lemon Creek Correctional Center, according to the VINElink online database for Alaska.
The alleged illegal activities occurred “or about March 28, 2024, through August 26, 2024,” according to an affidavit by U.S. Secret Service Special Agent Tanner Hubbard filed Sept. 6 in U.S. District Court.
“Steadman met a minor victim in his community, enticed him to engage in sexually explicit conduct, and then posted the images on the dark web via the Internet,” Hubbard wrote in a summary of the allegations. The affidavit details various videos and images allegedly depicting sexual contact.
Court and police records show previous arrests of Steadman for charges including possession of child pornography, failing to register as a sex offender and violating a protective order. He was sentenced to six years imprisonment, with three years suspended and five years of supervised release to follow, following the child pornography conviction in 2018.
After his release “the Defendant soon began exploiting children again once released and while on supervised release, both online and in his community,” a memorandum in support of pretrial detention filed by the U.S. Attorney’s office states. “The Defendant utilized the dark web to register on at least three websites dedicated to the sexual exploitation of minors.”
The Juneau Police Department stated Steadman was released from prison on an unspecified charge in March and began living at a residence where the alleged victim in the current case also resided, according to the affidavit.
“While (Steadman) was staying at the residence, he reportedly became very close with the minor victim he had access to, even self-admitting to the Juneau Police department that he and the minor victim would sleep on opposite ends of an ‘L’ shaped couch at times inside the residence,” Hubbard wrote.
Steadman, according to the document, was asked to move out of the residence on or about April 30. On or about May 1 the alleged victim “was forensically interviewed by the local Children’s Advocacy Center.”
“The minor victim did not make any disclosures during this interview,” Hubbard wrote. However, officials note that coincides with a statement Steadman wrote on the dark web “that the minor victim did not disclose his sexual abuse when CPS interviewed him.”
Furthermore, officials were not aware of the most recent alleged abuse at the time, and the alleged victim “did disclose the abuse to law enforcement and indicated the Defendant has abused a second minor victim,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s office memo.
A Juneau Police Department report states Steadman was arrested Aug. 17 in the vicinity of a Juneau extended stay hotel he was living at on a $1,000 warrant for failure to register as a sex offender. He was subsequently arrested on the federal charge Sept. 6, according to the press release issued Friday.
The memo filed by the U.S. Attorney’s office states a search of Steadman’s hotel room resulted in the discovery of a phone with child sexual abuse material, and a notebook “contained musings on plots to get revenge on people that had previously wronged him, writings in relation to how to best torture others, fantasies about death and killing, descriptions of his ‘preferred victims’ being between 9 and 17 years-old, and a history of his devolution into child pornography.”
If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum of 25 years in prison, according to the release.
The Secret Service is continuing to investigate the case, according to the release. People with information about Steadman’s alleged actions, or may have encountered someone in person or online using the name William Steadman, are being asked by the agency to contact mostwanted@usss.dhs.gov.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
