Man faces 15-30 years for child pornography

A Carlton man pleaded guilty last week to one count of production and attempted production of child pornography. He also admitted to engaging in a pattern of sexually abusing at least six children under the age of 12.

Stephan Jeremiah Hansen signed the plea deal in U.S. District Court on Tuesday, Sept. 26. According to the 12-page plea agreement and sentencing stipulations, Hansen admitted to taking photos and videos of the children over a period of at least seven years with his Apple iPhone.

In return for Hansen’s guilty plea, the U.S. Attorney’s office agreed to dismiss three other charges. The minimum sentence is 180 months (15 years) in federal prison; the maximum is 360 months (30 years).

Court documents note that the Carlton County Attorney’s Office also agreed to dismiss the pending state case against Hansen, which includes 16 criminal sexual conduct and pornography charges. When previously asked about moving the case to federal court, Carlton County Attorney Lauri Ketola explained the mandatory minimum sentence for the federal charges is 15 years each, versus 24 months each for the state charges.

Law enforcement began investigating Hansen in March 2022 after a report was made about a nonconsensual picture taken of a juvenile male in a bathroom stall at the Minnesota Children’s Museum in St. Paul.

According to the St. Paul Police Department, officers responded to a call from the museum about an adult stranger who had taken photos of a juvenile male in a bathroom stall. Officers said an employee of the museum provided surveillance footage of Hansen that helped in identifying him. St. Paul officers spoke with Hansen later in March and seized his cell phone under warrant.

Sgt. David McCabe, a spokesman for the St. Paul police, said it took three months to get into Hansen’s phone via permissions from a phone company.

Under warrants, on June 28 and July 5, investigators were able to open the phone and found “pornographic material of a minor” on the phone and in a cloud storage account.

The case became a collaborative effort with investigators from St. Paul and the Carlton County Sheriff’s Office. Ultimately, the case was turned over to the Carlton County Sheriff’s Office.

According to federal court documents, law enforcement found at least 250 images (of those, 119 were unique) on Hansen’s iCloud account, electronic devices and at his residence. Some of those were produced by Hansen, others were downloaded from the internet.

Although Hansen admitted to sexually abusing and taking photos and video of at least six children, he specifically pleaded guilty to one charge, regarding multiple images of a 3-year-old girl. He agreed the images were produced for the purpose of sexual gratification and that it constituted child pornography.

A sentencing date has not yet been arranged, but the plea agreement outlined numerous point levels that would be added to the charge because of certain elements (age, sexual contact, control) as well as level reductions for his cooperation and timely plea agreement.

Hansen could also be fined as much as $250,000.

Hansen remains in custody in the Sherburne County Jail on the federal charges. The state charges were still set for an omnibus hearing in November when the Pine Knot went to press this week.

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Getting help

Reach out for support and advocacy regarding child sexual abuse:

•Carlton County Attorney’s Office 218-384-9170

•First Witness 218-727-8353

•Fond du Lac Reservation crisis line 218-348-1817

•Program for Aid to Victims of Sexual Assault 218-726-1931

•Mending the Sacred Hoop Coalition in Duluth 218-624-HOOP