TACOMA, WASHINGTON, August 24, 2015 (Gephardt Daily) – Steven Powell, father-in-law of missing Utah mother, Susan Cox-Powell, has been sentenced to five years in prison for possession of child pornography.
Powell, 64, was sentenced Friday in the same Tacoma, Washington courtroom where he was previously found guilty of possessing nude images of eight and ten year-old neighbor girls. Police say he took the photos from the bedroom of his home back in 2006 and 2007.
The child porn case against Powell stemmed from previous convictions for voyeurism. In 2012, he was found to be in possession of videos and still photos of the neighbor girls, which showed them in compromising positions while using their parents’ bathroom. Prosecutors filed child porn charges at the time, but they were dropped before being reinstated on appeal.
The very existence of the images came to light when police from West Valley City, Utah joined forces with authorities in Washington to search for evidence in Steve Powell’s home related to Susan Powell’s disappearance. Susan’s husband, Josh Powell – the only official person of interest in the case – was living in his father’s Puyallup, Washington home at the time.
When sexually explicit drawings were discovered on Josh Powell computers he lost custody of his two children and was ordered to undergo a psycho-sexual evaluation. Months later Josh Powell murdered his two children with an axe before killing himself in a raging house fire.
At Friday’s hearing, Steve Powell read a prepared statement, assailing police for a corrupt investigation, while maintaining his son’s innocence in Susan’s disappearance.
Powell immediately began serving his five year sentence.
He’ll receive 533 days credit for time already served.
