A St. Croix County judge has sentenced a former Burnett County prosecutor to 18 months in prison after he secretly recorded sexual encounters with two women. The attorney was handling the prosecution of the women at the time.
A St. Croix County jury convicted former Burnett County Assistant District Attorney Daniel Steffen earlier this year on three felony counts of representations depicting nudity. Steffen will serve two years of extended supervision and four years of probation following his prison sentence.
“As he should, the defendant will be serving time behind bars for the crimes he’s been convicted of,” said Attorney General Josh Kaul in a news release. “Thank you to the team of criminal justice professionals who ensured that justice has been served in this case.”
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According to the criminal complaint, a state investigator learned in early 2020 that a woman who Steffen was prosecuting had sex with him in exchange for leniency on pending cases.
She first denied a relationship with the prosecutor, but later admitted they had sex several times in 2018 at his Polk County home and office during work hours. The two met during a case he was handling in which she faced charges for violating a restraining order.
The agent secured a search warrant of Steffen’s home that revealed an iPad with videos depicting the attorney having sex with two women on separate occasions.
A video from February 2018 showed the prosecutor having sex with another woman. According to the complaint, the two were heard in the video discussing ways she could avoid criminal charges for hitting a mailbox.
Neither of the women were aware they were being recorded at the time, although the complaint states one of the women said she allowed Steffen to record her with his phone.
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