LACP.org
 
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Feds: Sexual Svengali led moms to assault own kids
Assaults were photographed or streamed over the Internet

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Steven Demink
Steven Demink convinced moms to molest their kids on
camera .. assaults that were streamed over the Internet
 

Feds: Sexual Svengali led moms to assault own kids

Assaults were photographed or streamed over the Internet


by Robert Snell

The Detroit News

October 15, 2010


A Redford man accused of manipulating women in three states into sexually assaulting their children was ordered held behind bars today by a federal judge.

Steven Demink, 41, is facing three child pornography charges that could send him to prison for more than 30 years. U.S. Magistrate Judge Mona K. Majzoub ordered him temporarily detained after a federal prosecutor described Demink as a flight risk and a danger to children in the area and nationwide.

"He only needs Internet access and the power of his mind," Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Mulcahy said.

A federal prosecutor described Demink as a sexual Svengali who met women on websites devoted to single parents. Using the pseudonym Dalton St. Clair, he portrayed himself as a father of a 14-year-old daughter.

 

He convinced women in Idaho, New Hampshire and Florida to assault their children — assaults that were photographed or streamed over the Internet and viewed by Demink, according to Mulcahy.

There were five victims, all under the age of 18, according to Mulcahy.

Demink is due back in U.S. District Court Oct. 28 for a preliminary examination.

His lawyer, Timothy Dinan, did not comment before quickly leaving the hearing with Demink's parents.

Demink's court hearing comes a week after authorities rescued three children in Virginia and Florida who were assaulted by their mothers, according to Mulcahy. The mothers have been arrested on sex charges.

This isn't the first time Demink's name has surfaced in connection with child porn, Mulcahy said.

In 2003, Demink's name appeared on a list of people who subscribed to child porn sites compiled during a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigation. Demink subscribed to three child porn sites, Mulcahy said.

But he never faced charges in that case.

The current case dates to December 2009 and a mother in Idaho who investigators say sexually assaulted her 5-year-old son at the direction of an online chat partner named Dalton St. Clair.

Agents with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security searched Demink's home Sept. 2 and seized a computer from his bedroom. A quick check found several images and videos of what are suspected to be child porn, according to court records.

In an interview that day, Demink admitted creating the Dalton St. Clair persona to meet women on the website singleparentmeet.com, according to authorities.

In one case, authorities said, he told agents about chatting with a woman who performed sex acts on her children and streamed the video on a Web cam.

Demink also told investigators about chats with three other women who had sexual contact with their kids, according to an affidavit filed by a Homeland Security special agent.

One woman e-mailed Demink photos of her molesting a 14-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter.

In the Florida case, Demink told the mother he had a doctorate in psychology and could help her son, who was suffering from "mental issues," according to the affidavit.

Dalton gave the mom a series of instructions that escalated from cuddling to nudity and, eventually, performing oral sex on her son, according to the affidavit.

When either of the woman's children would resist the abuse, which was being photographed, Demink would promise trips or items such as a Sony PlayStation 3, according to the affidavit