MEDIA COURTHOUSE – A Wallingford man arrested twice on child pornography charges was sentenced to two to five years in a state prison Monday with seven years of concurrent sex offender probation.
Nicholas Stevenson, 44, of the 700 block of Raleigh Court, will also have to register as a sex offender for 25 years under the sentence imposed by Court of Common Pleas Judge George Pagano.
Stevenson was initially charged with possession of child pornography in November 2020 after Google alerted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about suspected child pornography uploaded to its Google Drive infrastructure in October 2020, according to an affidavit of probable cause written by Delaware County Detective Lisa DeMartini.
DeMartini reviewed 19 files in that case and found they each contained child pornography, including images of children as young as 4 to 6 years old performing sex acts, according to the affidavit.
Detectives with the Pennsylvania Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force executed a search warrant at Stevenson’s home in November 2020 and he provided a statement at that time, according to the affidavit.
Stevenson told investigators that he would go on the “dark web” to kill time, but did not always look at porn or “twisted s—.” He said he used search terms like “Lolita” and “pre-teen” to find child pornography, but believed most of it was fake and he did not keep anything, according to the affidavit.
“After the ‘shock and awe’ would wear off, (Stevenson said) the ‘disgust’ would come over him,” the affidavit says. “(Stevenson said) he did not get turned on by it …”
He was charged with 19 counts each of possessing child pornography and criminal use of a communication device in the first case. He posted $10,000 cash bail Nov. 23, 2020, and was awaiting a preliminary hearing when additional charges were filed.
The second criminal complaint, filed March 4, 2021, states that Google provided account information for Stevenson in December 2020 that revealed he was doing more than simply looking at images. A forensic report prepared by county Detective Edmond Pisani found 69 unique images of child pornography associated with Stevenson’s Gmail account, according to the affidavit.
There were also another 236 images and one video of a female aged approximately 8 to 12 years old being surreptitiously photographed, the affidavit says. Some of these images were allegedly taken inside Stevenson’s home.
Some images had been digitally manipulated to paste the victim’s head onto an image of another naked child’s body, the affidavit says. A potential second victim also had their face superimposed onto a naked child’s body, according to the affidavit.
Child abuse pediatrics specialist Dr. June Elcock-Messam verified that the composite images used to create these pictures involved children under the age of 18, according to the affidavit.
Stevenson was charged with another three counts of criminal use of a communication facility and producing child pornography in that complaint, as well as four counts of invasion of privacy. Stevenson posted bail for that case May 19, 2021.
Stevenson entered an open plea in February to one count each of photographing, filming or depicting children in sexual acts on a computer, possession of child pornography and invasion of privacy, as well as two counts of criminal use of a communication facility.
Assistant District Attorney Danielle Nispel sought a sentence Monday of 30 to 60 months for both cases running concurrently, though she noted that the facts of the case could easily warrant consecutive sentences.
She argued this was not a simple possession case, but included Stevenson taking the additional step of creating child pornography using images of a child he personally knew and had access to.
The mother of one of those children also gave an emotional address to the court Monday and said she had known Stevenson for 16 years – six of those before her daughter was even born. She said Stevenson’s wife often took care of the little girl.
“He had full access to my daughter,” she said. “I trusted this man. I trusted him to be around my child. I really did believe that he was a good person, but I really do believe that if Nick was not caught for this crime then he would have still had full access to my daughter – and not only that, but this would have gone father. It would have developed into sexual abuse.”
The mother said her daughter had one time come back from Stevenson’s home saying she had done a “fashion show” for him, while he played photographer. She did not think anything of it at the time, she said, since Stevenson typically photographed events.
But she now believes Stevenson was grooming the young girl, giving her video games and other presents whenever she was over at his house – including a camera.
“As a mother, I feel like my child’s innocence was stolen,” she said. “He not only exploited her, he exploited other children as well. This man morphed pictures of children’s faces onto naked bodies of other children. That’s a monster. He literally used the innocence of children to create child pornography.”
The mother said she now has to wonder if the images were ever sent out over the dark web and may one day resurface, and has no idea how to discuss the situation with her daughter. She added that she will never forgive Stevenson.
Defense attorney Stephen Molineux said it was pure speculation that the images had been disseminated and that detectives had not found any evidence of that taking place. He also argued that Stevenson has been deemed a low risk for reoffending or escalating his behavior by his therapist and other professionals. Molineux sought a county sentence so that Stevenson can be near his family, noting his client has zero prior contacts with the law.
“Mr. Stevenson is very remorseful,” said Molineux. “He has expressed remorse from the inception of this case. He is ashamed of himself, he has sought treatment … to find out why he has conducted himself in this way … (and) he wants to continue to get treatment.”
Molineux added that Stevenson, a former bus driver, lost his job after being charged, but had been previously been commended for going above and beyond at work, including providing medical care for a man suffering from a heart attack in 2020. He has the support of his family and of neighbors, Molineux said, many of whom wrote letters to the court.
Stevenson also apologized to the victims and to his own family in a brief statement.
“I just want a chance to make things right and do what I gotta do,” he said. “I am truly sorry for everything. This is not who I am, this is not how I want to be remembered.”
In addition to prison time, Stevenson will have to provide a DNA sample to state police, undergo a Sexual Offenders Assessment Board evaluation and forfeit the devices used to commit his crimes. He was also ordered not to have any unsupervised contact with minors and to stay away from the victims and their families.
Stevenson was given credit for approximately three months of time served, but is not eligible for early release. Judge Pagano allowed him to remain free on bail until June 13 so that he may attend his son’s high school graduation on Friday.
