MCSO discusses ongoing case involving sexual exploitation of a minor

Added: 2026-05-22

[00:00:00]So, I'm Sergeant Dennis Ogerchuck. I'm the supervisor over our Cyber Crimes Unit in the Major Crimes Division.

[00:00:07]Um We work uh internet crimes against children. That's one of our main focuses in in the unit in Cyber Crimes uh that we work. Regarding to this case uh on April 28th in 2026, uh our Cyber Crimes Unit received a cyber tip that was made by Cash App to NCMEC, which is the National Center for Missing Exploited Children.

[00:00:30]Um The MCSO, like I said, Cyber Crimes Unit is part of the Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

[00:00:36]Uh MCSO Cyber Crimes detectives opened up an investigation into this report under incident number 2026-010925.

[00:00:47]Uh the cyber tip from Cash App reported that an adult male subject who was living in Arizona was repetitively um sending money to a juvenile female in the state of Indiana.

[00:01:00]And that the two appeared to have no other known relationship to each other.

[00:01:05]These financial transactions appeared to be suspicious in nature, um which is what generated the tip.

[00:01:12]Uh Cyber Crimes Unit personnel began conducting initial intel, which revealed that our male suspect uh Stefan Santos, who's 34 years old, was a registered sex offender. Um This information raised the priority level of our investigation and our detectives working the case.

[00:01:31]Um A little bit later, we also learned that he had been arrested by the MCSO Cyber Crimes Unit back in 2011 for sexual exploitation of a minor from a peer-to-peer file sharing investigation involving CSAM, which is child sexual abuse material, um under that incident report, which was 2011-184614.

[00:01:55]Uh Stefan was convicted and sentenced in that investigation and he served approximately 6 years all together in the Arizona Department of Corrections.

[00:02:06]Um from his initial sentence from that case combined with some subsequent uh probation violations from the original offense.

[00:02:14]Um back in 2011, I was actually the case agent on that investigation uh approximately like 15 years ago um when I was a detective in the unit.

[00:02:25]Uh the 2011 case, like I said, was a proactive investigation into a peer-to-peer file sharing. Um MCSO detectives knew during this new investigation uh that Stephan's admissions made during my interview with him uh back then that he was sexually attracted to minor females um aged from 10 to 15 years old.

[00:02:47]Uh Stephan made those statements back in 2011 and stated that he had a problem and he was sick and needed help.

[00:02:54]Um ICAC detectives in the Warrick County Sheriff's Office in Indiana uh simultaneously received this same new cyber tip in 2026 from NCMEC.

[00:03:07]Our ICAC detectives in the Cybercrimes Unit here at MCSO worked with their detectives and they conducted an interview with the juvenile who was 14 years old uh like the Sheriff mentioned in in Boonville, Indiana.

[00:03:20]They learned from their interview that she had in fact been sending uh sexually explicit images to our suspect via Snapchat.

[00:03:30]And we further learned that our suspect had traveled traveled to Indiana on at least two occasions uh where they met in person and allegedly had sexual interactions on three separate instances dating back to when she was 13 years old in 2024.

[00:03:48]Uh on May 4th at approximately 1500 hours, just 6 days after MCSO first received the new cyber tip, uh the MCSO Tactical Operations Unit detained our suspect near his residence without incident.

[00:04:03]Cybercrime personnel executed a residential search warrant in reference to this investigation with the assistance of the Electronic Evidence Analysis and Remote Surveillance Unit, our Digital Forensics Unit, and detectives from the Special Victims Unit.

[00:04:18]Uh Detectives and forensic techs searched Stephon's residence in the area of Bethany Home and Dysart Road in Litchfield Park, which was Stephon's mother's home, and attempted to conduct an interview with the suspect post-Miranda.

[00:04:33]Uh Stephon immediately invoked his right to an attorney, and he did not speak to uh our Cybercrimes detectives.

[00:04:42]We seized numerous cell phones from the residence that belonged to Stephon.

[00:04:46]Forensic techs were able to gain access to those phones without the passcodes, and the images of the victim in question were recovered in Stephon's possession by MCSO on his phone.

[00:04:58]Further digital forensic examinations are now being conducted to search for any additional evidence and to help identify any potential unknown new victims here in Maricopa County.

[00:05:09]Stephon's vehicle, which is a black 2022 Toyota Camry with red leather interior, was seized during the search warrant and towed to the Major Crimes Division for processing as it was allegedly used in the offense in Indiana.

[00:05:25]Stephon was arrested by MCSO and booked into into jail on charges being filed through the Maricopa County Attorney's Office for violations of two counts of ARS 13-3553 A2, which is sexual exploitation of a minor, which is a class 2 felony and a dangerous crime against children.

[00:05:45]These charges were from the chargeable images sent to the suspect by the victim via Snapchat that he was in possession of here in Maricopa County.

[00:05:53]Stefan was given a $500,000 bond cash only bond during his initial court appearance and he's also currently non-bondable on a probation violation under his booking number um which is George 252889.

[00:06:08]Uh charges are also currently pending in the state of Indiana against Stefan Santos from the Warwick County Sheriff's Office investigation.

[00:06:17]Uh Stefan has worked for three different trucking companies as a driver in the valley. Um he frequently travels all over the East and West Valley um as well as northern Arizona uh including Black Canyon City, Prescott, Chino Valley, Camp Verde, and Cottonwood.

[00:06:35]Uh Stefan has utilized Snapchat to mutually exchange images with minors utilizing various usernames along with Cash App in this case.

[00:06:45]And he also utilizes other apps such as Roblox, Telegram, and WhatsApp.

[00:06:51]Uh Stefan previous lit previously lived in an apartment in the area of El Mirage and Camelback Road in Litchfield Park uh prior to recently moving back into the residence with his mother.

[00:07:04]Um the detectives, forensic techs, intel analysts, and the technical operations unit of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office really did outstanding work on this investigation. Um we had this suspect in custody within 6 days of receiving the initial NCMEC cyber tip.

[00:07:20]Uh I know these cases can be very difficult to work from my experience and from my detectives and our forensic folks um to deal with. They can be some of the hardest crimes for detectives, but they're also some of the most important to protect children who are exposed to these dangers via the internet.

[00:07:38]Uh additional digital forensic examinations of Stefan's cellular devices are ongoing with MCSO right now.

[00:07:46]If anyone has any information regarding any sex crimes involving minors uh at all or involving Stefan Santos or his black 2022 Toyota Camry four-door with red leather interior um that maybe he's involved in, please contact the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office at 602-876-1011.

[00:08:09]Um this is still an ongoing investigation here in Maricopa County and in Indiana and there may be some details that we're not at liberty to discuss.

[00:08:18]Uh Stefan Santos is presumed innocent of these charges until proven guilty in a court of law um that's pretty much the summary of the case. I don't know if anybody has any questions or if the sheriff or anyone has anything else to say. Thank you.

[00:08:32]How likely is it that there may be other victims out there?

[00:08:36]Uh from some of the evidence that we received from the search warrants and um some things that we're not discussing right now, we feel pretty likely there's going to be other victims um possibly here in Maricopa County.

[00:08:53]Uh right now we're still working on the cell phone examinations. They're just kind of in the beginning stages.

[00:09:01]So um we'll be you know looking through chats and conversations and and doing some forensic work and analysis to try to identify by victims but uh if anybody is aware of any that that would be helpful. Have you worked with any other states in between here and where the girl was located to see if anything transpired in between? We have not yet.

[00:09:22]Uh just working directly with Indiana and here in the county. Um we are looking at um you know we we are doing some uh infotainment system extractions of the vehicle for GPS locations and things like that. Uh those that kind of stuff is in the works. Uh we could possibly be doing that. The The ICAC task force is a nationwide um we're all work together pretty frequently. Um so, we're in communication as ICAC detectives across the nation and and also here in Arizona with all the other agencies. Uh I think there's 60-some affiliates here in the state of Arizona and and uh 60-some across the nation as well as far as just everybody that's involved in the ICAC task force. So, um that information will be will be out there and we'll be looking into to all those possibilities. You mentioned that back in 2011 case that he expressed that he was sick and he needed help.

[00:10:20]Are there any rehabilitation programs for people when they get out or through the correction system that you know of that he either had access to or or participated in? Yeah, they are they are definitely I know treatment is is definitely something there that happens frequently. He he was a registered sex offender. He was current with our sex offender notification unit as far as reporting his addresses and and working with some of the stuff through therapy and and uh I think they um are subject to to polygraph examination, sometimes compelled in some of their treatment plans and things like that that happen. So, um those things were going on and the sheriff's office was monitoring as far as uh his current addresses. He was staying current on his on his sex offender uh registration.

[00:11:06]At this point, do you have photos of other victims that you're trying to identify?

[00:11:10]Uh right now we do not. Um we are work like I said just the beginning stages of of the uh examination. Um he didn't speak with us and provide passcodes, but we were able to access the phone and uh we are starting those examinations. Um to you know, try to identify other other juveniles from names and images and and things like that. Uh back in 2011, he was arrested for the peer-to-peer file sharing images, which was I think that case there was no known victims in that investigation. So, that was more of things that he was downloading and sharing online that uh were children being victimized through the internet, but this case is unfortunately involving uh you know, a a child victim in Indiana, so They haven't ruled it out. They just haven't gotten that far in the phone.

[00:12:00]Correct.

[00:12:02]Regarding the system that gave you that alert, um is that uh tip happen because you guys were tracking him?

[00:12:12]Uh from this from this case or from the 2011 case?

[00:12:14]>> From from this situation or the From this case? So, this case was just uh reported um by Cash App. So, they saw suspicious transactions um that you know, there was no known relationship between between this adult here in Arizona and and a child who, you know, her Cash App had to have an adult sponsor in order to even have that um that app. Uh so, they monitored those. There was some text conversation that seemed suspicious in nature related to some of the money that was moving from >> [clears throat] >> Arizona being paid to the child victim.

[00:12:53]Uh so, that prompted Cash App to report that activity to the National Center for Missing Exploited Children. So, there's literally hundreds of electronic service providers that report um cases to to NCMEC daily. So, um you know, we have here in Arizona and that just the Arizona ICAC Task Force, we have thousands and thousands of cyber tips.

[00:13:18]Um at the Sheriff's Office, I I believe we're sitting on about 130 cyber tips right now alone, not counting our proactive investigations or our investigations coming in that are reported by the public here in the county. So, NCMEC gets millions of tips a year worldwide. They're kind of the hub of those tips coming in and those tips get sent to here in Arizona, they get sent to Phoenix PD.

[00:13:44]And then Phoenix PD sends those cyber tips out to all the affiliate agencies in in the state that work ICAC cases.

[00:13:51]So this tip was just generated by Cash App seeing that suspicious activity and reporting it to the center.

[00:13:59]You mentioned Cash App but Roblox What what what apps would you say Cash App was on your on your child? All of them.

[00:14:08]I I think you know monitoring your child's devices just crucial. Um We see I I probably cyber tips you know we're getting the most from TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram. Uh We are seeing a trend of of more Cash App cases. You know we have five or six right now that we're working from Cash App at the sheriff's office and we probably have a dozen or so more that we're proactively working on financial transactions. So that is kind of a trend that's that that's coming up.

[00:14:45]That we're working you know in addition to all the peer-to-peer and BitTorrent file sharing and undercover chat and things like that that that are happening but all of the apps obviously an app like Roblox seems you know concerning for uh 34-year-old male and there there was other things that uh other apps but pretty much any any app I would say. Did you say Roblox is how he met this individual or how did Uh through Snapchat. Yeah this case was was that's how they were communicating initially was through Snapchat. Um so the detectives in in Indiana did uh look at their Snapchat conversation between the victim and our suspect here.

[00:15:29]She was able to identify him and his vehicle.

[00:15:32]Uh and uh that's how the initial con- conversation started was through Snapchat and it just evolved from there.

[00:15:39]Uh Cash App was the uh company that reported the financial transactions, which is what what made us aware of the investigation. In your interview with the 14-year-old girl, was she aware that this man was 34 years older than Uh the the Warren County Sheriff's Office interviewed her in Indiana, so we didn't speak with her. That investigation's still ongoing and and uh she was aware of his age and he was aware of her age. That's correct.

[00:16:07]Talk about the importance of different agencies and different states working together.

[00:16:12]Before people thought maybe if they crossed state lines, it'd be easier to get away with something like this, but with all the states involved and agencies, it's kind of tightening In incredibly important. Yeah. Um our unit uh I've been Like I said, I worked in this unit as a detective and then promoted and eventually came back to supervise the unit and been doing that for a lot of years now as well. Uh our unit does frequently get investigations that take us out of state. Um we go and do search warrants in other states frequently.

[00:16:41]Um and and travel to other states to work investigations along with other ICAC detectives uh to serve search warrants and and contact suspects or or victims in other states and and uh that network is is super important. Um the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force really does work together well and and reaching out to to any task force or ICAC detective across the nation is usually instantly you know, hey, what can we do to help? And and uh they're on board. We we work cases for for other states. Um you know, where we're contacting victims and suspects here on the on the regular. Um so that is a super important relationship.

[00:17:18]How much money you talking about?

[00:17:20]Uh, very small amount, really. Um, I think the total was only around $51 uh, over like 22 transactions. So, a lot of times it was just conversation or a couple dollars here and there. It wasn't a lot of money. Um, We do see that frequently in other investigations where, you know, you know, kids playing video games and they, you know, get a a $5 gift card could be a big deal to to a small child. So, It It wasn't a large amount. Is it possible this could get bumped up to a federal case because it's between at least two states?

[00:17:56]I don't believe so. I think it would probably just stay here with the with the Maricopa County Attorney's Office and and then the charges that are pending in Indiana out of their out of their uh, Attorney's Office there.

[00:18:14]Okay. Thank you again very much, everyone. Thanks.