ST LOUIS (News First) – U.S. District Judge Audrey Fleissig on Wednesday sentenced a St. Francois County man, who admitted to possessing child pornography and participating in online discussions about the rape of children, to 75 months in prison. 32-year-old Stephen E.R. Marez was also ordered to pay $9,000 in restitution. Marez pleaded guilty in federal court in St. Louis in August to receiving child pornography. The rural Farmington man admitted exchanging child porn and discussing the rape of children with two people online.
Indiana State Police were investigating one of the men participating in those discussions, who led them to Marez. On July 14th, 2023, a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper conducted a traffic stop and seized Marez’s cell phone, which contained child sexual abuse material. A July 19th, 2023, court-approved search of Marez’s home recovered electronic devices that contained more than 2,000 files containing child porn, including 249 images and 137 videos. Marez had already faced four similar felonies out of St. Francois County. He was supposed to have his trial set for those charges on December 20th.
