Fort Bliss Ex-Soldier Gets 17 Years in Prison for Making Child Porn with 2-Year-Old

A federal court sentenced a former U.S. Army soldier to 17-years in prison for making child porn using a 2-year-old child. At the time of the crime, the man served on active duty as a soldier stationed in Fort Bliss.

Steven George Sperling, age 36, went before a U.S. district court judge in El Paso, Texas, last week. The judge sentenced the former soldier to 17 years in prison. Sperling pleaded guilty to one count of production of child pornography on July 14, 2021, information released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas revealed.

The case began in July 2019 when agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigations found a group that utilized a social media application to discuss and share pornographic material dealing with underage victims. In one of the conversations in the group, authorities learned that Sperling wanted to trade images and claimed to have access to a two-year-old child.

An undercover agent began communicating with Sperling and said that he wanted to trade images, court documents revealed. The agent communicated with another user who shared images and a video of the two-year-old that had been taken by Sperling. Authorities tracked the user to a Samsung phone belonging to Sperling who was then stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas.

The FBI office in El Paso worked with U.S. Army Military Police who arrested Sperling and helped carry out a search of his house. During questioning by authorities, Sperling told agents that he had seen child porn involving children of various ages from “babies to teens.” However, the soldier claimed that he had not recorded or sent images of the two-year-old. After further questioning, Sperling admitted to authorities that he had.

“Prosecuting dangerous sexual predators that exploit the innocence of children and cause unspeakable harm is always going to be a top priority for our office,” said U.S. Attorney Ashley C. Huff in a prepared statement.

Luisana Moreno is a contributing writer for Breitbart Texas.