News Releases

Convicted child rapist sentenced to 50 years for producing child pornography
This is the man's second conviction for child pornography in less than a decade.

ALBANY, N.Y. - Steven J. Ahders, 31, from Schenectady, N.Y., was sentenced today to 50 years in federal prison for producing child pornography following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Office of Investigations in Albany. Ahders was also sentenced to two years in prison for violating his federal supervised release from a 2001 conviction for possession of child pornography. Ahders served 46 months in federal prison for that conviction.

According to court documents Ahders admitted during the investigation to using a digital camera to record images of himself having sexual relations with a male child. Forensic examination of Ahdlers' computer also uncovered multiple images of prepubescent females in various sexual poses and engaging in explicit sex with other minors and adults. Many of those images came from Taiwan.

In October 2008 Ahders pleaded guilty in Schenectady County Court to a state charge of predatory sexual assault against a child. He was sentenced to serve 20 years by the county court. Ahders' federal and state convictions will run concurrently.

"This repeat offender has proven through his various heinous crimes that the only way to protect the children of Schenectady County is to keep him behind bars for 50 years," said Lev Kubiak, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Buffalo. "Court documents clearly demonstrate that Steven J. Ahders is a dangerous child predator and on many occasions has taken part in the international exploitation of children through the production of child pornography."

The probe was a joint investigation between ICE, the Schenectady Police Department, the Schenectady County District Attorney's Office and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York.

As part of the sentencing on September 10, federal Judge Norman Mordue ordered that Ahders must also participate in a sex offender program, serve a lifetime of supervised release once he has completed his sentence, and have no supervised contact with minors. He must also register with the New York State Sex Offender Program.