Man Denies FBI Charges of Child Pornography

A self-employed investment counselor from Nevada pleaded not guilty Thursday to federal charges that he engaged in oral sex with boys between the ages of 10 and 13 while participating in what prosecutors described as an international child pornography ring.

The complaint filed in Los Angeles against Leland Ernest Stevenson Jr., 46, of Boulder City, Nev., also accused him of distributing pornographic material and transporting it across state lines.

At Stevenson’s arraignment, Asst. U. S. Atty. Joyce Karlin said the suspect, who owns two homes in Nevada and another in Sri Lanka, is part of a worldwide ring of pedophiles who exchange child pornography. She declined to elaborate when questioned outside the courtroom.

Stevenson was arrested by federal agents and Los Angeles police officers on Feb. 5 at a San Clemente motel after he had picked up 30 rolls of film from a Hollywood film processing laboratory. The manager of the lab tipped police that the photographs and film showed Stevenson involved in various sex acts with young boys, according to an affidavit signed by FBI Special Agent Michael Randolph.

Stevenson, who was placed under surveillance after the lab manager’s tip, was charged by the Los Angeles district attorney’s office with crimes against a child and was later released on bail. On Thursday, he was arrested again by Randolph on the steps of the Los Angeles Federal Courthouse as he arrived to surrender on the federal charges.

Karlin said local authorities will probably drop their case now that federal charges have been filed.

Randolph said in the affidavit that the sex acts, including sodomy and oral copulation, may have taken place at one of Stevenson’s homes in Boulder City, about 45 miles from Las Vegas, and in Sri Lanka.

Several of the boys photographed appeared to be of East Indian extraction and in several instances, the youths seemed to be experiencing pain, according to the affidavit.

At the arraignment, Stevenson’s attorney, David M. Brown, said his client was not involved in the distribution of pornography and had not committed the alleged sex acts. “This (the films and pictures seized) is his own personal collection of erotica,” Brown said.

Brown said Stevenson had lived in Washington for a period of time and was a member of the Bar but had never practiced law.

Persuaded by defense claims that Stevenson was unlikely to flee the country, U.S. Magistrate Joseph Reichmann set bail at $100,000 with the admonition that Stevenson have no contact with juveniles before his next court date on Feb. 25.