VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — A DeLand man was ordered to spend more than a century in prison Wednesday for the sexual abuse of a child.
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The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office Internet Crimes Against Children Unit began their investigation into now 36-year-old Adam Steele in April of 2020 after receiving a tip about sexual misconduct involving a child.
During the investigation, deputies say they discovered multiple image files in Steele’s possession containing child sexual abuse material.
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According to investigators, some of the images they recovered were photographs Steele took himself of a two-year old child he had access to as a “trusted adult.”
Steele, a truck driver at the time who lived on Pine Ave. in DeLand, was arrested in June of 2020 on 10 counts of promoting the sexual performance of a child and one count of lewd or lascivious molestation. He was later charged with an additional 30 counts of possession of materials depicting a sexual performance by a child.
Steele pleaded guilty to the charges in September of this year.
During a hearing Wednesday afternoon, he was sentenced to 105 years in prison followed by sex offender probation for the rest of his life.
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“The defendant photographed our two-year -old victim during the sexual molestation,” State Attorney R.J. Larizza said about the case. “While 105 years is likely a lifetime, no amount of time seems enough for what the defendant did to an innocent and helpless child.”
According to the sheriff’s office, there’s no indication Steele had any other victims.
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