New York music teacher sentenced for child pornography

NEW YORK – A former New York music teacher has been sentenced to 60 months in federal prison for receipt and possession of child pornography. The sentence is the result of an extensive investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Stephen Siktberg, 32, pleaded guilty to the charges April 4, 2011. According to court documents, Siktberg, who provided private music instruction to both children and adults, downloaded child pornography from the Internet using a peer-to-peer file-sharing program, and saved it on his computer and on CDs.

Siktberg had saved thousands of images of child pornography and more than 100 videos. During his plea, Siktberg admitted that he "downloaded child pornography knowing it was a crime."

This investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide ICE HSI initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders, and child sex traffickers.

ICE HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE or its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.