Booking photo for Trei J. Stenlund (Courtesy: Cache County Jail)
LOGAN — A 25-year-old Hyrum man has pleaded guilty to downloading child pornography over the internet. Trei J. Stenlund accepted a plea deal to lesser charges and will be sentenced next month.
Stenlund participated in a virtual hearing in 1st District Court Monday afternoon, appearing by web conference with his attorney. He pleaded guilty to five counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony.
Defense attorney David Perry explained that as part of the plea agreement, prosecutors dropped five remaining charges against the defendant.
In April 2020, Logan City police officers received a Cybertip explaining that Stenlund was using a file sharing service to trade child pornography. The account contained 100 suspected files. Some of the material involved children as young as 4-5 years old.
Police officers served the warrant to Stenlund’s home and questioned him. They also secured his cell phone as evidence.
Stenlund told officers he had been trading pornography through file sharing sites because “he is interested in amateur pornography, not staged or professionally produced pornography.” He said if the links he received had any files depicting underage people, he would delete them.
During Monday’s hearing, Cache County Deputy Attorney Ronnie Keller explained that when officers went through Stenlund’s phone during the interview they found at least five files of child pornography.
Judge Brandon Maynard accepted Stenlund’s plea deal. He ordered him to be sentenced Dec. 13.
Stenlund is currently out of jail after posting $10,000 bail. He could face up to 15 years in prison.
will@cvradio.com