Southwest Washington registered sex offender sentenced to 20+ years in prison for producing images of child rape and abuse

Tacoma - A registered sex offender from Skamania County was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 251 months in prison for production of child pornography, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman.  Steven Lee McBride, 51, pleaded guilty in August 2020.  At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Benjamin H. Settle said “It is not hyperbole to say what happened to this victim is a life sentence. These traumas follow the victim their whole life long.”

“Congress has appropriately mandated some of the lengthiest sentences for those who abuse our vulnerable children,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Gorman.  “In this case the defendant, with prior child sex crime convictions, used stealth, deception and ultimately threats to harm and kill loved ones, to force a young child to do his sick bidding.  This lengthy sentence is fully appropriate.”

According to records filed in the case, in 2007, McBride was convicted in Idaho of molesting two children under the age of 16 and was required to register as a sex offender following a state prison term of up to 15-years. Upon release from prison, McBride moved to a residence in Skamania County.  There he moved next door to a distant relative and befriended that neighbor’s child.  Between September 2017 and May 2019, McBride made sexually explicit images of the child by hiding a camera in the bathroom, molesting the child while the child slept and ultimately by posing as a school friend of the child online to demand the child send sexually explicit images.  McBride threatened to kill the child’s family if the child did not continue to provide the photos.

Law enforcement learned of the production of child pornography when investigators in Queensland, Australia became aware of McBride providing sexually explicit images online in their jurisdiction.  An undercover officer contacted McBride and got additional information about the identity of the victim from McBride.  The Vancouver Police Department and Homeland Security Investigations moved quickly to alert the victim’s parent and arrest McBride on June 7, 2019. 

Assistant United States Attorney Angelica Williams noted in her statements to the court that McBride was a serial child predator.  “His conduct was intentional, malicious, and calculated… He bragged about the abuse.”

Judge Settle said that protecting the community was the top priority in this case.  He ordered McBride to be on lifetime supervised release following his prison term.

McBride was sentenced to 75 months in prison in Skamania County Superior Court for the hands-on molestation. Under the terms of the plea agreement his state and federal sentences will run concurrently.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations with assistance from the Vancouver Police Department and the Queensland Australia Police.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Angelica Williams.