Naval Employee Charged With Producing Child Pornography

SILVER SPRING, MD — A naval employee from Silver Spring was detained in Japan and brought back to the U.S. after allegedly producing and possessing child pornography, the Department of Justice said in a statement.

A federal grand jury indicted Spencer E. Steckman, 34, for the production, transportation and possession of child pornography. He had his initial court appearance Monday and was remanded into the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

Steckman works with Commander Navy Region Japan and moved to the country in mid-November 2017.

Prosecutors said while Steckman was in Maryland, from August 17 -September 22, 2017, he "enticed a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing child pornography."

Steckman allegedly transported and possessed child pornography when he moved to Japan.

He was detained by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) in Japan on March 27, 2018, and transported back to Maryland by the United States Marshals Service on April 1 to appear before the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.

This investigation was a part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, prosecutors said.

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