Snow Business: Ski School Employee Facing Serious Charges

An employee at a children’s ski school at a resort in South Lake Tahoe, CA., has been charged with child exploitation and possession of child pornography, Acting U.S. Attorney Steven W. Myhre for the District of Nevada said this week.

The case is out of Heavenly, a resort that straddles both Californial and Nevada.

Stephan L. DeGraffenreid, 26, of Gardnerville, NV., was charged with one count of sexual exploitation of a child, two counts of attempted sexual exploitation of a child, and one count of possession of child pornography, Myhre said.

If convicted, the mandatory statutory minimum penalty is 15 years in prison for each of the sexual exploitation and attempted sexual exploitation charges, Myhre said.

According to a criminal complaint, law enforcement officials discovered child pornography on an Apple iPod Touch that was found at the Children’s Ski School at Heavenly Ski Resort.

During the investigation, law enforcement officials learned the iPod belonged to DeGraffenreid, who was an employee at the Children’s Ski School, according to the criminal complaint.

During the execution of a search warrant at his residence, officers located a thumb drive that contained explicit images of children in a Gardnerville, Nev., day care facility restroom, Myhre said.

DeGraffenreid admitted to downloading and possessing the child pornography, according to the criminal complaint.

Patch File Photo

Chris Dehnel is a Patch editor who has been writing about snow sports since 1999. His Snow Business column appears regularly during the skiing and snowboarding season.