Tucson Man Gets 10 Years In Jail For Possession Of Child Pornography

TUCSON, AZ —A Tucson man was sentenced to a decade in prison Tuesday in a federal court after previously pleading guilty to child pornography charges, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona has announced.

Zachary Zane Stephenson, 45, will spend 10 years in jail after pleading guilty to one count of possession of child pornography. He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Cindy Jorgenson.

Upon his release from prison, Stephenson will be placed on lifetime supervised release with stringent conditions of supervision, according to authorities. He also will be required to register as a sex offender and complete a sex offender treatment program.

According to court records, Stephenson was charged in Oct. 2020 after he was found to be using his cellphone to access graphic child sexual abuse material. Stephenson already was on supervision in connection with similar child pornography charges at the time of his arrest.

Authorities said the case against Stephenson was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative that was launched in 2006 to help combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Project Safe Child is led by U.S. state's attorney's offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation Section. The agency marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet. Plus it helps to identify and rescue victims.

Homeland Security Investigations in Tucson conducted the investigation in this case.