BOX ELDER COUNTY, Utah — A former Brigham Young University math professor has been sentenced to three years of probation after sending sexually explicit messages and photos to an undercover investigator posing as a 17-year-old girl.
Stephen Henry McKean, 32, of Springville, pleaded guilty in Brigham City’s 1st District Court to reduced class A misdemeanor charges of distributing harmful materials to a minor and enticing a minor.
A judge suspended a 364-day jail sentence, granting McKean credit for 32 days already served. Under the terms of his sentence, McKean was placed on three years of probation under strict sex offender group conditions. An Aug. 3 court order allows him to reside unsupervised at home with his minor children.
The charges stem from a March joint operation involving the Box Elder County Attorney’s Office and the Utah Internet Crimes Against Children task force. According to a police booking affidavit, an investigator posing as a 17-year-old girl online was contacted by McKean, who identified himself as “Steve” and stated he taught math and science at a university.
Court documents state that despite expressing concern that the communication was illegal, McKean continued conversing about meeting for sexual acts, sent graphic descriptions of explicit acts, and transmitted an explicit photograph of himself. The next day, he deleted his account and cut off communication.
Investigators served search warrants and traced the IP address used in the messages directly to McKean’s home in Springville.
McKean previously served as an assistant professor of mathematics at BYU. Following his arrest in April, the university placed him on immediate administrative leave. McKean is no longer listed in the directory for BYU’s College of Computational, Mathematical and Physical Sciences.