Steven Powell sentenced to 5 years for child porn, issues statement on Susan Powell case



TACOMA -- Steven Powell, 65, was sentenced Friday to five years in prison for possession of child pornography.

A Pierce County Superior Court jury had convicted Powell on July 13.

Just before sentencing, Powell issued a long statement in which he argued investigators and prosecutors targeted him because they could not find any evidence that his son, Josh Powell, had been involved in the disappearance of Josh's wife, Susan Cox Powell.



Steven Powell also indicated in his statement that he plans to appeal his conviction.

Powell was found guilty of possessing explicit images of two neighbor girls, ages 8 and 10, that prosecutors say were taken from a bedroom window of his home in 2006 and 2007.

In 2012, Powell was convicted on 14 counts of voyeurism for shooting video and still pictures of the girls as they used a family bathroom next door. The child porn charges were thrown out by a superior court judge before the voyeurism trial but were reinstated by an appeals court.

Steven Powell is the father of Josh Powell, who killed his two young sons and himself in Graham in 2012 while he was being investigated for the disappearance of his wife, Susan Cox Powell.

In 2011, police searched Steven Powell’s home in Graham because Josh was living with his dad at the time.  That's when they found several pictures and videos of two young neighbor girls in their bathroom. Steven Powell was later arrested.

Prosecutors say there were hundreds of photos showing the girls naked in the bath, but the family next door apparently never knew they were being victimized.