Fresno, CA — At the end of a three-day federal trial, 58-year-old Stephen Tyler Prock of Jamestown was found guilty of receiving and distributing child sexual abuse materials.
According to the US Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of California, Prock used his desktop computer to receive and distribute over 100 videos depicting children engaged in sexually explicit material. Prock used the peer-to-peer sharing network Shareaza to download and distribute the materials. It happened between May of 2018 and March of 2020. Additional videos were being downloaded to Prock’s computer, according to authorities, when agents arrived at his residence to execute a search warrant.
The investigation was conducted by the Department of Homeland Security in partnership with other agencies.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children.
The Department of Justice notes that Prock is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston on July 27, 2026. Prock faces a mandatory minimum of five years in prison, a maximum of 20 years in prison, and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
The federal trial was held in Fresno.
