Army Lieutenant Colonel Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Production of Child Pornography Through Social Media and Instant Messaging Apps

A  Stafford, Virginia, man who serves as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army was sentenced today to serve 240 months in prison for production of child pornography and attempted coercion and enticement of a minor using social media and instant messaging apps.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Dana J. Boente of the Eastern District of Virginia and Assistant Director in Charge Paul M. Abbate of the FBI’s Washington Field Office made the announcement.

Steven Jon Frederiksen, 42, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee of the Eastern District of Virginia, who also ordered him to serve a 20 year term of supervised release.  On Aug. 2, 2016, Frederiksen pleaded guilty to one count of production of child pornography and one count of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor.

In November 2015, the FBI received notification that Frederiksen, at the time an employee of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), was utilizing his government-issued laptop to engage in the production of child pornography.  Frederiksen admitted in connection with his plea agreement that he used online chat programs, including Kik, to entice at least four minor girls, ranging in age from 14 to 17, to produce child pornography via the internet, which he then organized and saved in an online cloud storage account.  He attempted to do this with at least two other minor girls.  The defendant also possessed additional images of child pornography and exchanged child pornography with other individuals online.

The FBI’s Washington Field Office investigated the case with assistance from the Army Criminal Investigative Command in Fort Belvoir.  Trial Attorneys James E. Burke IV and Lauren Britsch of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) prosecuted the case.