FBI agents arrest Pendleton man on charge of transporting, abusing Alaska minor, seek more info from public
(Update: Adding video)
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTVZ) – An Oregon man was arrested by the FBI Thursday in Portland after a federal grand jury in Alaska returned an indictment this week charging him with transporting a minor with the intent to have the child engage in criminal sexual activity.
According to court documents, in 2019, Steven Fox, 59, moved from Pendleton, Oregon, to Anchorage, Alaska. At some point that year, Fox allegedly presented himself as a long-lost “uncle” to a family with two minor daughters and began caring for the minors.
Court documents further allege that in January 2020, Fox transported the minors from Alaska to Oregon. Fox started sexually abusing one of the minors, who was 9 years old, almost immediately after leaving Alaska.
Fox is charged with one count of transportation of minors. The defendant was scheduled to make his initial court appearance Friday afternoon before a U.S. Magistrate Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon.
If convicted, he faces 10 years to life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
U.S. Attorney Michael J. Heyman of the District of Alaska and Special Agent in Charge Rebecca Day of the FBI Anchorage Field Office made the announcement.
The FBI Anchorage Field Office and Anchorage Police Department investigated this case as part of the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, with assistance from the Pendleton Police Department and FBI Portland Field Office.
If anyone has information concerning Fox’s alleged actions, please contact the FBI Anchorage Field Office (907) 276-4441 or anonymously at tips.fbi.gov.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Ivers and Trial Attorney Rachel L. Rothberg of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) are prosecuting the case, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Oregon.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.
