Former Cub Scout leader faces child porn charges
HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The Harris County employee charged with possession of child pornography was also involved with Boy Scouts of America as an adult leader.
Robyn Broyles said her three boys know 42-year-old Steven Stones not as an accused criminal, but as a pack leader involved in camping trips and learning activities in northwest Harris County.
"For it to be your own kids' Cub Scout pack leader is pretty astonishing," Broyles said.
Broyles said she had uncomfortable conversations with each of her boys as a result.
"I talked to my kids right away," Broyles said. "Did he ever give you gifts, did he ever show you strange pictures or take pictures, things like that."
Broyles said she's pretty sure Stones did not harm her children based on their answers, but she is worried about other kids.
"Was he possibly trying to groom some of the boys to maybe have meetings outside of the pack meeting setting where there is supervision and try to get some unsupervised time?" Broyles asked.
The Sam Houston Area Council of the Boys Scouts of America issued a statement: "This behavior is unacceptable and runs counter to everything for which the Boy Scouts of America stands. While the allegations are unrelated to Scouting, upon learning of these reports we immediately removed this individual from our programs for the safety of our other youth members and participants, and precluded him from any further participation in the organization, as part of our established policies and procedures."
Harris County IT employee arrested on child pornography charges
Stones appeared in a Harris County courtroom Friday morning with his wife, who is a local pediatrician. Stones faces three child pornography charges. Harris County investigators said they found images of both boys and girls being sexually assaulted on Stones' personal computer.
He stood silent in front of the judge listening to the charges. Prosecutors read detailed descriptions of explicit images they say were found on Stones' personal laptop. Investigators say one of those pictures clearly showed an underage, naked girl, with the words "under seven" across the photo.
Stones' attorney said, "It was explicit. My reaction is I haven't reviewed the evidence."
In the probable cause document read aloud in court, investigators say Stones admitted to "collecting images" since he was in his twenties.
Stones works on the seventh floor of the Harris County Courthouse in the IT department. Child porn has not been found on his work computer.
Prosecutors saying this investigation is just getting started.
"Whenever we find child porn images on one computer, our next goal is to get the rest of the computers he had access to, including phones and everything. Because we want to see if there's any more and if it's been transferred from one computer to the next. At this point, we don't know," said John Wakefield with the Harris County District Attorney's Office.
Gigi Kinkaid lives down the street from the Stones family in the Champions Forest area.
"It's heartbreaking for the family and for our community," Kinkaid said, "and especially for their children."
The Harris County Sheriff's Office asks the public to contact them if they know of any other suspicious activity involving Stones.
