Church's music minister jailed on Peeping Tom conviction

The music minister at a local church reported to jail earlier this month in connection with charges of invasion of privacy.

Shane R. Steck, 35, of Cape Girardeau pleaded guilty in February to one count of second-degree invasion of privacy, a class A misdemeanor.

Steck, who according to charlestonbaptistassociation.org is the music minister at Illmo Baptist Church, was charged after allegedly taking photos of a 14-year-old through her bedroom window.

In November, the girl's father discovered Steck looking in the her window and holding a cellphone, according to a probable-cause statement by Detective Jamie Holloway of the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department.

The man saw several pictures and videos on the cellphone of the undressed girl; he demanded the images be deleted, and Steck complied, Holloway wrote.

The next week, the girl's father agreed to have a phone conversation with Steck, Holloway wrote. During the course of the conversation, which was recorded, Steck admitted to taking two videos of the girl, saying the first was blurry, but assured her father all the images had been deleted, Holloway wrote. Steck also invited him to look at his laptop to prove the images were gone.

The same afternoon of that phone call, Steck went to the sheriff's department to update his sex-offender registration information, at which point he was read his Miranda rights, Holloway wrote. He refused to be interviewed without his lawyer present and did not consent to a search of his cellphone and laptop, the statement said.

Steck is on the sex-offender registry for possession of child pornography, of which he was convicted in 2010.

In February, Judge Scott Thomsen gave Steck a suspended imposition of sentence, placing him on supervised probation for two years.

His probation had several conditions, including no contact with the victim, completion of a sex-offender program and counseling and 30 days in the Cape Girardeau County Jail, which began June 1.

If Steck breaks any terms of his probation, he would be incarcerated for one year.

kwebster@semissourian.com

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