A former University City High School science teacher and running coach arrested last year while trying to meet who he thought was a 16-year-old girl for sex was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in federal prison and 15 years of supervised release.
Sean Michael Stevenson, 59, pleaded guilty in June to attempted enticement of a minor for agreeing to pay $140 for sex acts with a person he believed was an underage girl, although the person Stevenson had arranged the meeting with was actually an undercover law enforcement officer.
Stevenson was arrested around 7 a.m. on Oct. 24, a school day, after he arrived at the pre-arranged meeting location in the Talmadge neighborhood with $140 in his car.
U.S. District Judge Anthony Battaglia said Stevenson’s case contained “very disturbing” facts and said such cases are “the most distasteful” that the court sees. The judge said the prison sentence, the mandatory minimum for such an offense, was appropriate both as punishment for Stevenson and to hopefully deter others from committing the same crime.
Stevenson must register as a sex offender. As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dismissed a charge against Stevenson for allegedly possessing sexually explicit images of children on his electronic devices, but Battaglia ordered him to pay $3,000 in restitution to each of the four victims depicted in the images.
“Mr. Stevenson’s determination to purchase sex acts from a minor is appalling,” U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath said in a statement. “Thankfully he was caught before harming an actual child. The sentence imposed today reflects the magnitude of our commitment to protecting the vulnerable from exploitation.”
Stevenson spoke only briefly Thursday, telling the judge he felt bad for his actions and that he wanted to take advantage of sex offender treatment in prison. He promised he would never be in legal trouble again.
“Mr. Stevenson is immensely remorseful for his conduct … and has accepted the fact that his life as he knew it, including his career and a significant amount of his freedom, is over,” his attorney, Dana Grimes, wrote in a sentencing document.
Stevenson taught environmental science and biology at University City High. He was also the head coach of the Centurions’ boys cross country team and was a varsity assistant for track and field, according to the school’s athletics website at the time of his arrest.
“There is no evidence of any inappropriate relationships with any minors in his entire coaching or teaching career,” Grimes wrote in the sentencing memorandum. Stevenson had taught at the high school for nine years, according to his attorney.
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The events that led to Stevenson’s arrest began in a roundabout way in April 2023, when police responded to a report of a robbery at a 7-Eleven and encountered an underage trafficking victim who told the officers that her pimp and his “bottom” — a pimp’s most trusted prostitute — had assaulted her, according to a criminal complaint and search warrant affidavit in Stevenson’s case. A few days later, officers from the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force arrested the suspected pimp and his other prostitute at a motel in the San Bernardino area, seizing their phones as evidence.
During a later search of that woman’s phone, officers found messages between her and Stevenson discussing the procurement of an underage girl for sex, according to the complaint and the warrant. Stevenson admitted in his plea that during that conversation, he texted the prostitute asking if she knew any “younger girls I could pay u a premium for.”
He also texted “The younger the better” and told the other woman “Just keep it in mind if you come across any high school age girls.” When the woman suggested an 18-year-old girl, he responded “Not young enough.”
In October, an undercover officer using the seized phone reignited the conversation with Stevenson. The officer, pretending to be the other woman, said her 16-year-old cousin was looking to make some money as a prostitute.
“Oh (expletive), yes!” Stevenson responded, according to his plea agreement. Later, after discussing prices for various sexual acts, he texted: “Ok. Well I’m interested in her for sure!”
After a few weeks of exchanging messages in which he repeatedly asked for pictures of the teen, Stevenson agreed to meet her for a “car date,” according to his plea agreement. When he arrived, law enforcement was waiting to arrest him.
