Courtesy of KIK
Stapley said that he used the KIK account to communicate with others and to trade files of child sex abuse.
By Forum Staff
In a sick and twisted plot to secure access to children so that he could molest them, an Astoria man now faces up to 12 years in prison.
Howard Stapley, 40, pleaded guilty to 125 counts of promoting a sexual performance by a child and 171 counts of possessing a sexual performance by a child.
Stapley began sending images of children as young as 2 being sexually abused by adults during September of 2015 to a woman he had recently started dating. He also sent texts to the woman about starting a family together—“breeding,” as he referred to it—so that he could sexually abuse them from birth.
A statement by Queens District Attorney Richard Brown points to the depravity of a defendant who “…pleaded guilty to sharing vile and extremely disturbing images of children – some as young as two years old – being sexually abused by adult men.” DA Brown went on to note that victim impact statements from children who had been abused by stately were read in court and illustrated the damage they had suffered due to the molestations as well as knowing profane images of them had been shared with others. “This kind of depravity will not be tolerated. The defendant in this case has been sentenced and will be locked away from civilized society.”
In September 2018, Stapley pleaded guilty to 125 counts of promoting a sexual performance by a child and 171 counts of possessing a sexual performance by a child. He was sentenced to four to twelve years in prison and will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.
According to the charges, in August 2015, the defendant began to date a woman and about a month later he instructed her to download the KIK application onto her cell phone. Once she installed the app onto her mobile device, Stapley immediately began sending her photographs and video clips of young children being molested by adults. Stapley’s text messages to the woman included his desire to explore sexual relationships with “animals to kids to groups.”
Stapley also talked about sharing a bed with a family – a woman and her three children and that all of them would have group sex. The defendant had texted the woman that “I enjoy the idea of converting you into a pedophile” and instructed her on how to take sexually explicit photos of children, how to sexually molest a child in a public bathroom and urged her to place babysitting ads so the two of them could sexually abuse the children in her care. The woman informed law enforcement and an investigator using a forensic tool on the woman’s phone found at least 33 pictures and videos with children between the ages of two and eight being penetrated by adult males sent by the defendant. After she sent the conversations to the police, Stapely continued to communicate with her both through text and the KIK app sending her more child sexual abuse material.
According to court records, law enforcement executed a court authorized search warrant at the defendant’s home on September 30, 2015, at which time investigators recovered a laptop and the defendant’s cell phone. A forensic examination of the laptop found at least 46 videos of young children being sexually assaulted by adult men. A forensic examination of the defendant’s cell phone found more than 125 photographs and videos of children between the ages of two and twelve being sexually abused by men. At the time of the defendant’s arrest, he stated that he had been using the KIK account to communicate with others and to trade files of child sex abuse. The forensic examination further revealed that he defendant had created two chat groups on the KIK app for the sole purpose of sharing and commenting on child sexual abuse material with others that he allowed to join the group.
