Fayetteville man pleads guilty to producing child porn

LITTLE ROCK — A Washington County man is facing as much as 30 years in federal prison after pleading guilty Tuesday in federal court to one count of production of child pornography.

Steven Luckett, 37, of Fayetteville, pleaded guilty to the count in exchange for Assistant U. S. Attorney Kristin Bryant’s agreement to dismiss a count of child pornography possession against him. He was indicted Nov. 5, 2020, by a federal grand jury in Little Rock following his arrest the previous month on a criminal complaint filed by Homeland Security Investigations. On Nov. 6, 2020, he was ordered detained by U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Thomas Ray.

In January of this year, U.S. District Judge Lee Rudofsky ordered Luckett to undergo a mental evaluation by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, the report of which was filed under seal in June and adopted in August. At Luckett’s plea hearing Tuesday, the judge expressed concerns over Luckett’s mental state, but after assurances from the defendant’s lawyer, Molly Sullivan with the Federal Public Defenders Office in Little Rock, Rudofsky decided to proceed after first questioning Luckett.

When Luckett was queried on his medications, the defendant told Rudofsky that he had been prescribed Zoloft for depression, “and something else” he said he couldn’t remember the name of, “to help cope with the voices I have in my head.”

“Are you hearing any voices today?” Rudofsky asked, a concerned look on his face.

“I always do,” Luckett replied. “They never stop, but I’m OK.”

After receiving assurances both from Luckett and Sullivan that he could understand the proceedings and assist in his defense, Rudofsky allowed the hearing to proceed.

The judge explained that the statutory penalty range of the offense of production of child pornography is 15 to 30 years in prison to be followed by five years to life on supervised release, and that it carries a maximum fine of $250,000 and is subject to a $5,000 mandatory assessment unless Luckett can prove indigence and inability to pay. In addition to the statutory penalties, Rudofsky explained that a guideline sentence based on a number of factors would be calculated to determine an appropriate sentence range.

“The guidelines really are just a guideline,” Rudofsky warned. “If someone has given you an estimate as to what your guideline sentence might be, you need to take that with a huge grain of salt because at this point it really is just a guess.”

Rudofsky also explained that he could reject Luckett’s plea agreement and if he did, Luckett would not be able to withdraw his plea. He also explained that in the federal system, other than the potential of small sentence reductions for good behavior, no other mechanism for early release exists.

“There’s no parole in the federal system,” he said, “so, essentially, the time I give you will be the time you will serve in prison.”

Bryant said that Luckett came to the attention of law enforcement in Fayetteville in October of 2020 after allegations of child sexual abuse in regard to five minor children surfaced dating to when Luckett lived in Little Rock. A Fayetteville police detective was told by a 12-year-old girl he interviewed that Luckett had raped her numerous times over a three-year period and that she believed he had taken video of her. Bryant said a second minor victim, who was 14 years old, told police that Luckett had tried to have sex with her but she refused, telling police that Luckett “offered to pay her $20 to let him do it but she still refused so he paid her $20 not to tell anyone.”

Bryant said the 14-year-old told police that she had fallen asleep one day on a sofa next to Luckett and woke up to discover him trying to molest her.

Under questioning by police, Bryant said, Luckett admitted to having videoed himself having sexual contact with the 14-year-old but said he was trying to determine if she was sexually active and told police he wanted to “check her for physical signs of sexual activity” while he videoed the encounter. Bryant said he denied any further sexual contact with the 14-year-old but that he admitted to investigators to having several sexual encounters with the 12-year-old victim.

“I want to make sure I understand that you are admitting to filming … Minor Victim 2 as you had sexual contact with her,” Rudofsky said following Bryant’s reading of the plea facts. “Is that true?”

Luckett leaned toward his attorney and conferred briefly with her before answering the judge.

“Yes, sir,” he finally said. But, when asked the same question about Minor Victim 1, Luckett denied videoing her, which prompted a brief conference between Bryant and Sullivan. At the conclusion, both attorneys addressed the judge.

“He didn’t say that he filmed Minor Victim 1,” Sullivan said. “Just Minor Victim 2.”

“He admitted to sex with Minor Victim 1,” Bryant said. “Minor Victim 1 said he filmed her.”

Following a few more questions, Rudofsky determined that the elements of the crime had been met and he accepted Luckett’s plea.

Luckett’s sentencing will take place sometime next year following completion of a presentencing report by the U.S. Probation Office, a process which typically takes between three and four months.