Crime & Safety
U.S. Postal Worker Charged, Again, for Sexually Exploiting a Child
Breaking: A postal worker allegedly viewed child porn at the Shrewsbury post office, where he worked.
WORCESTER COUNTY, MA–A United States Postal Service employee was re-arrested on Tuesday after law enforcement discovered evidence that he sexually exploited a child sometime between 1999 and 2001.
Stephen Mantha, 62, of Spencer, was charged in a criminal complaint unsealed on Tuesday with sexually exploiting a minor boy sometime between 1999 and 2001, said the U.S. attorney.
Mantha was originally charged on Sept. 21, 2016, with possession of child pornography and accessing with the intent to view child pornography. While he was arrested, he was released to home detention on Sept. 26, pending trial.
In the summer of 2015, investigators from the USPS Office of Inspector General were alerted to suspicious internet searches conducted by Mantha on a computer in the Shrewsbury processing and distribution center. Mantha worked there as an electronic technician. Investigators then found that Mantha was using the USPS computer to search for, and view, images of child pornography.
Mantha's house was searched on Sept. 21, 2016, when investigators found DVDs/CDs, video cassettes, an external hard drive, and more than a dozen thumb drives, on which child pornography was found.
Since then, federal agents reviewed the materials and discovered a video of Mantha sexually assaulting a young boy, approximately seven years old. According to court documents, federal agents located and interviewed the victim depicted in the video (now an adult), and the victim confirmed the sexual exploitation, said the U.S. attorney.
The charge of sexual exploitation of a child provides for a mandatory minimum of 10 years and no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.
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