CALDWELL -- A Caldwell man was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in prison for possession of child pornography and battery with intent to commit a serious felony.
Edward A. Stephens, 34, will be eligible for parole after serving five years of that sentence.
Stephens was arrested in March after Caldwell Police and the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force discovered hundreds of explicit videos and photos involving children in his possession. The child pornography investigation had been initiated by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, but the case was handed over to authorities in Caldwell after Stephens moved to Idaho.
In an interview with detectives after his arrest, Stephens admitted to detectives that he looked at graphic images of young children on his cellphone and had been viewing child pornography for several years.
But the case took a turn after Stephens was taken to the Canyon County Jail.
According to the Canyon County Prosecutor's Office, just hours after he was booked into the jail, the suspect was confronted by a woman on a recorded phone call about inappropriately touching a 5-year-old girl.
The conversation prompted the Canyon County Sheriff's Office to launch a new investigation. Investigators spoke with the 5-year-old, who told them Stephens had touched her inappropriately numerous times over the course of several months.
Stephens refused to speak with investigators about the incidents or take a polygraph test. He ultimately took an Alford plea to a felony charge of battery with intent to commit a serious felony in connection to the abuse.
Judge Gene Petty told Stephens during the sentencing that he was disturbed by the very young age of the children involved in the case.
"A lot of these children, including the minor you touched, were really young, especially with the 5-year-old, since it is a hard thing for them to come forward and make a statement on what happened to them," he said. "It is concerning when people are targeting children that age.”
The prosecution asked Petty to hand down a nearly four-decade sentence.
“The defendant in this case had hundreds of images and videos of child pornography and openly admitted that he has been viewing them for years,” Deputy Prosecutor Erica Kallin said. “Then once he was in jail, investigators determined he had also been sexually abusing a young girl. This man was preying on the most vulnerable people in our community. There is no doubt he belongs behind bars.”
In addition to the prison sentence, Stephens was required to register as a sex offender and have no contact with the victim or any minors.
