Steven Blosser

A Columbia man entered a guilty plea this week to a child pornography offense at the federal courthouse in East St. Louis, admitting to investigators that he had been downloading such images for years.

Steven D. Blosser, 40, of Columbia, pled guilty to an indictment charging him with receipt of child porn, which carries a prison term of five to 20 years, a fine up to $250,000, and supervised release of five years to life. A sentencing date has not yet been announced.

On March 2, 2016, police executed a search warrant at Blosser’s residence on Burroughs Road. Court information states that among items seized from the home were an Apple iPad and Dell desktop computer. While the search warrant was being executed, Blosser provided a voluntary, videotaped statement admitting having child pornography on his iPad and stating it had been on there “for years.”

Blosser also admitted downloading child porn and provided officers with a name of a website he visited to find it. He said he had been downloading child porn “as far back as I can remember,” court information states.

A forensic review of his Dell computer revealed 84 image files of child porn, while a forensic review of his iPad revealed 2,124 image files of child porn. In addition, the forensic review of the two devices revealed that, from on or about September 2015 through February 2016, the Blosser received images of child porn, including those charged in the indictment.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.

The case was investigated by the Columbia Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Springfield Child Exploitation Task Force.