ROANOKE, VA — A council member for the town of Pulaski is facing federal charges after prosecutors said he received and distributed child sexual abuse material, including AI-generated images depicting children.
Steven Wayne Erickson, 48, who serves as Pulaski County's work report program coordinator and previously worked as a sheriff's deputy and corrections officer, is charged with one count of receipt of child sexual abuse material and one count of distribution of child sexual abuse material, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Virginia.
Federal authorities said the investigation began after the FBI received a cyber tip involving alleged child sexual exploitation on the messaging app Kik.
According to prosecutors, investigators identified two Kik accounts used by Erickson and found multiple conversations in which he exchanged child sexual abuse material with other users.
Prosecutors claim Erickson encouraged other users to create AI-generated sexually explicit images of children, requested additional material and, in some cases, sent sexually explicit videos of himself in response.
The complaint also claims Erickson encouraged other users to sexually abuse children and requested images of that abuse. In another exchange, investigators said he received hidden-camera footage showing a teenage girl in a bathroom that was taken without her knowledge and that he later asked the sender for more recordings.
Prosecutors also claim Erickson sent photographs and videos of himself, including one showing a Virginia sheriff's office badge, to verify his identity while communicating with other Kik users.
In a statement sent to WSLS, Pulaski Mayor W. Shannon Collins said the community is shocked by the allegations against Erickson. Collins also announced a special Town Council meeting for Monday evening to determine how to proceed.
"We will release more Information to the public following that meeting, as we want to be as transparent about this situation as we can be," Collins said.
The FBI is investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Drew O. Inman is prosecuting.
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