In real life, Steven Demink didn’t have children, a college degree or a lasting career. Online, prosecutors say, he presented himself as Dalton St. Clair, an attractive single father and psychologist — a fantasy image authorities say the Michigan man used to persuade mothers across the country to commit unspeakable acts on their children.
Demink, 41, of Redford Township, preyed on single mothers for more than a year, prosecutors say, convincing them to sexually assault their children as a form of therapy. After
pleading guilty Monday to six charges related to the sexual exploitation of children, Demink
faces 15 years to life in prison when he is sentenced in June.
Demink’s alter-ego was a single father of a 14-year-old girl, prosecutors said, and
he posted pictures of male models as his headshots. In some cases, court documents say, Demink
promised the women a date if they followed through with his directions.
[...]
Demink told U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen that before his arrest, he worked as a car salesman for about six months and before that for about five years at a local bank. He said he completed a U.S. Customs and Border Protection training program in 2002 and worked for the Immigration and Naturalization Service for about a year. He attended college for about two years but did not earn a degree, he said.
As part of his plea agreement with prosecutors, seven charges against Demink were dropped.
[...]
Federal agents were tipped off to his operation by the Teton County Sheriff’s Office in Idaho, said Khaalid Walls, a spokesman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of Homeland Security Investigations.
The mother of a woman who had been chatting with him called sheriff’s officials in late 2009.
A Teton County Sheriff’s Office report from December 2009 said the Idaho woman met "Daltonst28" on an online dating site called singleparentmeet.com. She told police she performed sex acts on her young son as directed by her online male friend.
The woman’s mother, Eileen Schwab of Idaho, said she knows little of how Demink convinced her daughter to follow his orders. She said her daughter was "depressed and lonesome" after her divorce.
"I don’t know how he wrangled her in," Schwab said. "She could have turned off the computer and gone the other way. He must have had a power over her."
Her daughter pleaded guilty last May to lewd conduct with a child under 16 and is currently in prison.
Another mother who was arrested was from New Hampshire and pleaded guilty in December to producing child pornography, which carries a possible sentenced of 15 to 30 years in prison. She is scheduled to be sentenced in March. The Associated Press left a message seeking comment from Larry Dash, a federal defender representing her.
A woman from Lee County, Fla., also has pleaded not guilty to five counts and was being held without bond in Florida. She faces a May trial in federal court in Fort Myers, federal defender Martin DerOvanesian said.
Prosecutors say Demink also is linked to four other mothers in Indiana, Georgia, Illinois and Oregon but has not been charged with crimes related to those communications. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Mulcahy said those cases can be considered during sentencing.
[...]
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How could anyone really fall for his crap? I mean,.. you KNOW they knew it was wrong and ya know they have heard of pedophiles. No way I can buy into their defense. I just don't think anyone could be that dumb. Even if they did believe he was giving them therapy they had to know touching their kids and doing sexual things to them wasn't right. NO doctor or therapist would be recommending that. Those twats molested their kids because they wanted to and while he's just as sick and guilty as they are, they need to just take responsibility for their own actions. Then they need to be sterilized and/or put to death.
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Originally Posted by Ninja0980
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