Jury convicts former Burnett County prosecutor on 3 felony counts for secretly recording sexual encounters

A St. Croix County jury has convicted a former Burnett County prosecutor on three felony counts after he secretly recorded sexual encounters with two women. The prosecutor was handling a case for one of the women at the time.

The jury found former Burnett County Assistant District Attorney Daniel Steffen guilty on three counts of representations depicting nudity. Steffen faces a $10,000 fine or up to three-and-a-half years in prison on each count.

“Those who abuse their positions of authority must be held accountable,” said Attorney General Josh Kaul in a news release announcing the conviction.

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. In the video, the two were heard discussing ways she could avoid criminal charges for hitting a mailbox, according to the complaint.

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.

This isn’t the first time a prosecutor with the Burnett County District Attorney’s Office has been called into question regarding actions with female defendants. Former Burnett County District Attorney William Norine was publicly reprimanded by the state Office of Lawyer Regulation in 2019 for pursuing dates with women, some of whom had pending criminal cases in the county.

The Office of Lawyer Regulation listed three violations in its reprimand of Norine, which included a conflict of interest for sending Facebook messages to women who had active criminal cases.

Steffen’s bond has been revoked, and he’s being held in custody. A conference to schedule his sentencing will be held May 1.