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BASTROP — A Bastrop man was sentenced in federal court this month to 25 years in prison for sexual exploitation of a minor.
The FBI and Bastrop County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case of Stuart Mitchell Pieper, 41, with assistance from the Franklin County District Attorney’s Office and the New Albany Police Department in Ohio.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office in the Western District of Texas, Pieper was a member of a private chat group on a social networking application. He used the account in 2023 to post multiple images depicting the sexual abuse of children.
Through the group chat and direct messages, Peiper also discussed how he was “grooming” female children for sexual activity, court documents said.
A preliminary search of Peiper’s cell phone and laptops seized in an August 2023 search warrant revealed images and videos depicting child sexual abuse, according to reports.
Pieper was subsequently arrested by state authorities in Bastrop County and transferred into federal custody in November. He was indicted for one count of sexual exploitation of a minor and pleaded guilty to the charge in April 2024.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Gabriel Cohen prosecuted the case.
Pieper’s case was part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative combating the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.
For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice. gov/psc.
