60 count child porn indictment against Delaware man

The suspected child predator ran a photography studio specializing in youth photos and had spent nearly 15 years as a foster parent.

Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden unveiled the details of the major child predator indictment.   52 year old Steven Hughes of Newark was arrested October 22 at his second home in Millsboro.  Hughes  was a foster parent for nearly 15 years and who ran a photography studio specializing in taking pictures of young children.   He also worked as a “Santa Claus” who specialized in making in-home visits.  “It’s no secret that predators go to and seek out jobs and environments where they are trusted implicitly.  That’s the heinous part of this crime.”  If convicted on all charges, Hughes faces 120 years in prison.

Biden says it was the cooperative work of the State Police Child Predator Task Force and his office’s Child Predator Unit that resulted in the indictment.  Hughes faces 30 counts of sexual exploitation of a child and 30 counts of dealing in child pornography.  Biden says investigators have found no evidence that the thousands of images discovered in Hughes’ home are of Delaware children.  “However, we are looking at whether this defendant’s work led to physical offenses against children.”  He urges anyone with information that could help in the investigation to call New Castle County Police Detective Jason Wilson at 302-395-8110.

Investigators are still cataloging the volumes of child pornography they discovered on computers, DVD’s, and CD’s at Hughes’ home.  The images will then be forwarded to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.  Officials there will be able to determine if the images are of victims that have already been identified or whether they are children that have not seen before now.

Biden says Monday’s indictment is evidence of how much of a priority the Delaware Department of Justice is putting on stopping child predators.  Biden says it’s not just through prosecuting suspected predators, it’s also through educating young people about the danger they face when sharing information and images online.