Department of Justice

United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian

Northern District of New York
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, May 08, 2015
www.justice.gov/usao/nyn

CONTACT:

John Duncan

PHONE:

(315) 448-0672

STEPHEN M. HOWELLS II ENTERS GUILTY PLEAS TO ALL 21 COUNTS OF

FEDERAL INDICTMENT
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK Stephen M. Howells II, age 39, of Hermon, NY pled guilty today to
all 21 counts of a federal indictment charging him with child exploitation offenses, according to
United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and Andrew T. Vale, Special Agent in Charge of
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Albany Division. Howells will be sentenced by U.S.
District Judge Glenn T. Suddaby on Friday, September 18, 2015 at 11:00 am in Syracuse, New
York. A trial is scheduled for co-defendant Nicole Vaisey on June 22, 2015 before Judge
Suddaby in Syracuse.
Howells pled guilty to conspiracy to produce child pornography, producing child pornography
(Counts 2-10), and possessing child pornography. The conspiracy count (Count 1) and fifteen
additional counts relate to Howells sexual abuse of six separate children (ranging in age from 5
to 11) and his filming of that abuse on sixteen dates between December 2012 and August 2014.
Howells is charged alone in six of those counts (Counts 11-16); Vaisey is also charged with
conspiracy and nine of the production counts (Counts 2-10). Howells also pled guilty to five
counts of possession of child pornography, (Counts 17-21), separate and apart from the children
and images charged in the first 16 counts of the superseding indictment. These counts relate to
numerous image and video files Howells collected from the Internet and downloaded to each of
five separate hard drives from computers that were recovered from his residence. These images
and video files also involve prepubescent minors and minors under the age of 12.
Howells admissions as part of his guilty plea included the following:
From September 2013 to August 2014, Howells conspired with Vaisey to produce child
pornography. Howells obtained drugs through his work as a registered nurse and he used the
drugs to sedate the child victims. On sixteen specified dates between December 2012 and
August 2014, Howells sexually abused six separate children, ranging in age from 5 to 11,
sometimes with Vaisey also doing so, as Howells or Vaisey filmed that abuse. Howells and
Vaisey planned to abduct children to engage in sexually explicit conduct. They kidnapped two
Amish children from a farm stand in August of 2014 to use them to engage in sexually explicit
conduct and produce images and videos of that conduct. On August 15, 2014, Howells
possessed five separate computer hard drives containing numerous image and video files of
actual young children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
Howells faces at least 15 years imprisonment, and up to 30 years on the conspiracy charge, as
well as on each of the substantive exploitation counts. He also faces a maximum sentence of 20
years on each of the possession counts. The Court has the discretion to run all of these sentences

concurrently or consecutively to one another. Howells will also be required to serve a term of
supervised release of a minimum of 5 years and up to life to follow any term of incarceration. In
addition, conviction on any count of the superseding indictment will require Howells to register
as a sex offender.
The criminal conduct committed by Stephen Howells is beyond comprehension, stated U.S.
Attorney Richard S. Hartunian. Our hearts go out to all the young victims who endured his
unspeakable acts. We will continue to do everything in our power to see that he will never abuse
another innocent child. I commend the community, the St. Lawrence County Sheriffs Office,
the New York State Police, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for working tirelessly to
bring him to justice.
The crimes committed by Howells are some of the most horrific imaginable, said Special
Agent in Charge Andrew W. Vale. He carefully planned and carried out these abuses and
exploitations, and today's guilty plea is the result of a vigorous investigation to locate Howells
and uncover the full extent of his criminal actions. The FBI commends the work and dedication
of its law enforcement partners and the U.S. Attorney's Office. It is because of this essential
collaboration that the victims were recovered and that Howells is receiving justice for his
crimes.
This case was investigated by the St. Lawrence County Sheriffs Office and the Federal Bureau
of Investigation with substantial assistance from the New York State Police. It is being
prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Lisa Fletcher and Tamara Thomson.
The case is brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the
growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Launched in May 2006 by the
Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is led by United States Attorneys Offices and the
Criminal Divisions Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood
marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals
who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more
information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.