Ponca City man to serve 40 years for child pornography

OKLAHOMA CITY — Steven Mario Alford Orecchio, 46, of Ponca City, has been sentenced to 40 years in federal prison for distributing on the Internet videos of his own graphic sexual abuse of minors, announced United States Attorney Timothy J. Downing.

On Aug. 21, 2018, a federal grand jury brought three counts against Orecchio based on conduct between February 2013 and November 2016.

Counts 1 and 2 charged him with producing and distributing child pornography photographs and videos of a minor identified as Jane Doe #1.  Count 3 charged him with producing and distributing a child pornography video of a minor identified as Jane Doe #2.  As stated during court proceedings, Orecchio distributed these images to others on the “Dark Web.”

The U.S. Marshals Service took custody of Orecchio on Sept. 10, 2018, when he left state custody based on state charges in Kay County arising from the same conduct.

Orecchio pleaded guilty to Counts 2 and 3 on November 28, 2018.  Pursuant to a plea agreement, the government has dismissed Count 1.

On  Monday, U.S. District Judge David L. Russell sentenced Orecchio to 480 months, or 40 years, in prison.  The court explained it fashioned the sentence so that Orecchio would be in his eighties when released.

Although federal prisoners can earn limited credits for good behavior, parole has been abolished in the federal system.  After release from prison, Orecchio will serve any remaining years of his life on supervised release and be required to register as a sex offender.

“The innocence stolen from these children through unspeakable acts can never be restored,” said U.S. Attorney Downing.  “This conviction and sentence will not only hold Mr. Orecchio accountable for his crimes, it will also ensure that he will never again victimize another child.  I am committed to working with our state partners to keep defendants like this one away from children and to seek sentences that will deter others from harming children in such an egregious way.”

This case is the result of an investigation by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which includes agents and officers from Homeland Security Investigations, the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office, the Ponca City Police Department, and the Tulsa Police Department, with the assistance from Brian Hermanson, District Attorney for Kay and Noble Counties, as well as law enforcement officers in New Zealand and Australia.  It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Hale.

This case is also part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the Department of Justice, 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 www.justice.gov/psc.