Minnesota man sentenced for sexual exploitation of children

ST. PAUL, Minn. – A southeast Minnesota man will spend 17.5 years in federal prison for sexual exploitation of a child.  

According to court records, 61-year-old Steven Sokel of Blooming Prairie began communicating over the internet with the mother of a pre-pubescent minor victim in Thailand in 2022. Sokel traveled there and stayed with the mother and child for nearly a month, where he produced images of the minor engaged in sexually explicit activity.  

U.S. Customs and Border Protection found the child sexual abuse material on his laptop at the Abu Dhabi airport in the United Arab Emirates after workers noticed sex toys in Sokel’s luggage.