Former St. Elizabeth teacher sentenced on federal child porn charge

A former teacher in the St. Elizabeth school district has been sentenced in federal court for distributing child pornography.

U.S. District Judge Brian Wimes sentenced Stephen Strobel, 26, to more than ten years in federal prison without parole. He will also serve 15 years of supervised released once he gets out of prison. Strobel pleaded guilty earlier this year.

In 2014, a woman in Ohio found her teenage daughter took part in sexually explicit conversations with Strobel over the internet. When authorities talked to Strobel, he admitted to exchanging pornographic photos with the girl, and said she had sent him pornographic photos and a video; Strobel then sent the video to a third person.

Investigators found around 500 images of child porn on Strobel’s phone. Strobel also admitted to trading photos and videos of underage girls with other people online. He said he never asked about the ages of those depicted, but guessed they were between the ages of 13 and 15, and said he did get photos of underage children as young as five or six years old