Prosecutor is accused of making secret sex videos with 2 women, including a criminal defendant
Image from Shutterstock.com.
A Wisconsin prosecutor has been charged with making secret sex videos that were found on an iPad seized from his home during an investigation of his relationship with a criminal defendant.
The prosecutor, 50-year-old Daniel Steffen of Osceola, Wisconsin, was charged Friday with three felony counts of representations depicting nudity, report the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Wisconsin Public Radio, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Associated Press.
Steffen has been placed on leave from his current job as a Burnett County assistant district attorney. He was formerly the district attorney in Polk County but lost a campaign for reelection in 2016.
Prosecutors allege that Steffen made three videos of sexual encounters with two women in 2018 without their knowledge.
According to allegations in the Feb. 5 criminal complaint, Steffen stuck his tongue out at the camera and winked several times when he was having sex with one woman. He can also be heard asking the woman, “Who’s in charge?”
The investigation began after an acquaintance told police that the first woman talked about having sexual relations with a prosecutor in exchange for lenience in her criminal cases. The woman at first denied a relationship and said she ended up paying a fine on the criminal charges.
In a later interview, the woman acknowledged a relationship and said she had sex with Steffen at both of their homes and at his office during work hours.
The woman told investigators that she was unaware of the iPad recordings, although she had allowed Steffen in the past to make recordings on his iPhone while he held the phone in his hand.
The second woman can be heard on the video speaking with Steffen about how she can avoid criminal charges for hitting a mailbox, the affidavit said.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune was able to reach Steffen for comment on the allegations.
“I’m really anxious for the truth to come out,” he said.
