A former district attorney in Wisconsin has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for secretly recording sexual encounters with women who did not know they were being filmed.
Daniel Steffen, 52, has also received a 10-year sex offender registry and suspension of his law license.
According to reports, the investigation into Steffen’s private life began after the Wisconsin Department of Justice – Division of Criminal Investigation received a tip from an anonymous woman.
This woman claimed that she had exchanged sexual relations with the Burnett County Assistant District Attorney (ADA) in exchange for leniency on criminal cases she had pending. The woman was later identified as Victim #1.
Victim #1 admitted to investigators that she met Steffen at his office after being accused of violating a restraining order against her father, and that they had sexual relations at several locations including his home and even during work hours at his office.
She further admitted that although she consented to recordings on some occasions using Steffen’s cellphone, neither video recorded on the iPad was consensual as she did not know she was being filmed.
The court document stated that when examining the iPad seized from Steffen’s bedroom, investigators found two videos depicting him and Victim #1 having sex; one of them shows him looking directly at the camera while sticking out his tongue and winking multiple times.
In addition, there was another recording featuring Victim #2 which showed their encounter earlier than year in February 2018 during which he can be heard giving her advice on how “to avoid criminal charges for hitting a mailbox.” Again, it does not appear that this victim knew she was being recorded either.
In April, Steffen was convicted of three counts of representations depicting nudity and sentenced to 18 months behind bars followed by two years extended supervision and four years probation.
He will also have to register as a sex offender for a minimum period of five years according to some outlets or ten years according to others sources such as WQOW news channel.
Attorney General Josh Kaul said: “As he should, the defendant will be serving time behind bars for the crimes he’s been convicted of.”
