A Greene County man, Stephen Wendell Lutes, 32, has pleaded guilty to multiple charges related to the sexual exploitation of children. The announcement was made by Acting United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III and Erin Keegan, Special Agent in Charge of the Buffalo Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
According to court records, Lutes admitted that he sexually abused a girl from about age five to eight and recorded some of these acts. He also acknowledged creating a video showing both this victim and another child of similar age naked in a bathtub.
Lutes further admitted that during the same period as his abuse of the first victim, he knowingly viewed and downloaded child pornography involving other children unknown to him using social media applications. He possessed this material on his cellphone.
Acting United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III stated: “Lutes admitted to heinous sexual exploitation and child pornography crimes. My Office is committed to vigorously investigating and prosecuting child sex predators in coordination with our federal and state partners. The community is safer because Lutes will be behind bars for years to come.”
HIS Special Agent in Charge Erin Keegan said: “With today’s guilty plea, the defendant admitted to his abhorrent exploitation of two children. While no amount of justice can undo the trauma of his crimes, I thank HSI Albany and our partners with the New York State Police and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York for utilizing every tool at our disposal to confront threats against children and vulnerable communities.”
Sentencing is scheduled for December 22, 2025. Lutes faces mandatory minimum sentences totaling at least 15 years per count for three counts of sexual exploitation, with each count carrying up to 30 years in prison. He also faces between five and twenty years for receipt of child pornography, up to twenty years for possession charges, supervised release from at least five years up to life after imprisonment, restitution payments to victims, possible fines up to $250,000, and mandatory sex offender registration upon release.
Sentences are determined by a judge based on statutory requirements as well as federal sentencing guidelines.
The case was investigated by HSI along with the New York State Police. Assistant United States Attorneys Mikayla Espinosa and Michael D. Gadarian are prosecuting as part of Project Safe Childhood.
Project Safe Childhood is a national initiative led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS). It coordinates resources among federal, state, and local agencies aimed at locating offenders who exploit children online or otherwise; it also works toward identifying victims for rescue efforts. More information about Project Safe Childhood can be found at https://www.justice.gov/psc.
