Bend-area man jailed, accused of luring minor online, arranging to meet
Jackson County began investigation in May; devices seized in raid
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – A 69-year-old Bend-area man was arrested in a raid on his home Tuesday, accused of several months of lewd online interactions with an underage child in southern Oregon and arranging to meet the child for sexual contact, police said Thursday.
Detectives with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office had been investigating Steven Lee Genereux since May, Public Information Officer Mike Moran said. The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security investigators and the Southern Oregon High Tech Crime Task Force were involved in the investigation of alleged online sexual corruption of a child.
Over the course of several months, Generueux allegedly requested sexual photos from the child, engaged in lewd visual behavior online and arranged to meet the child for sexual contact, Moran said.
Deschutes County sheriff’s detectives assisted the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office in serving a search warrant at 9:45 a.m. Tuesday at Genereux’s home in the 60000 block of Tumalo Circle, sheriff’s Sgt. Jayson Janes said.
Genereux was lodged at the Deschutes County Jail on three counts of second-degree online sexual corruption of a child and seven counts of luring a minor, all Class C felonies. His bail totaled $150,000.
Court records show the luring charges in a 10-count Jackson County indictment involve Genereux's alleged interactions with police officers posing as a minor online.
Janes said Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office digital forensic detectives assisted with the search warrant, as authorities found and seized several electronic devices that will be processed for any further evidence of the crimes.
As the investigation continues, criminal charges in Deschutes County are possible, Janes said. Anyone with information on Genereux that could assist in the case was asked to contact Detective Keith Slater at 541-550-4859.
