BATON ROUGE– A federal grand jury indicted former East Baton Rouge Parish contractor Blake Steiner for distribution of child pornography, according to U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Louisiana Ronald Gathe Jr.
Steiner pleaded not guilty to the charge.
According to the criminal complaint that preceded the indictment, Steiner allegedly sent a video of child pornography to an undercover agent in March.
The video depicts a child engaging in sexually explicit conduct with a man. Officials say Steiner also expressed sexual interests in children to the undercover agent that included incest and bestiality.
Steiner was the city-parish’s chief building officer, on contract from a Houma-based construction firm. He is no longer doing work for East Baton Rouge Parish
“Mr. Steiner was not a City-Parish employee but an employee of South Central Planning & Development Commission, a contractor for City-Parish,” a statement from East Baton Rouge Parish said. “Mr. Steiner is no longer performing duties for City-Parish and we will ensure that operations continue as normal without interruption.”
Distribution of child pornography is punishable by a maximum penalty of 20–40 years in prison, depending on sentencing enhancements.
Steiner also faces potential sex offender registration, supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties.
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