292 Months in Prison for Man Who Tried to Lure Child into Having Sex

A Manhattan man was sentenced to more than 24 years in prison for attempting to lure a child into having sex.

Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced Thursday that Stephen P. Brown engaged in explicit online communications with a state police investigator who was acting undercover as an 11-year-old boy.

During the communications, which occurred between Jan. 14 and March 4, 2014, Brown talked about various sexual acts he wanted to perform with the child, requested the child provide sexually explicit photos and made plans to met the boy in a Peekskill hotel to have sex. The name of the hotel was not released.

When Brown arrived at the meeting place, he was arrested.

He admitted that he exchanged emails and text messages with a boy and talked about meeting to engage in sex acts.

Brown also admitted the request for photos and had even brought his own camera because he intended to take sexually explicit photographs of the boy.

A search of Brown’s home revealed thousands of images and videos of child pornography.

The investigation found Brown had sexually abused four boys over a 30-year period.

In addition to the 292-month prison sentence and supervised release for life, Brown was ordered to pay a $50,000 fine.

U.S. District Judge Nelson S. Roman imposed the sentence.

“This case underlines the urgent and serious need for law enforcement to continue its efforts to protect vulnerable children from those who seek to prey on them,” Bharara said.