Ex-Tahoe ski teacher pleads guilty to child sexual exploitation
A former Lake Tahoe children’s ski instructor pleaded guilty Tuesday to sexual exploitation of a minor.
Stephan DeGraffenreid, 26, faces a minimum of 15 years in federal prison for each of three charges: one count of sexual exploitation of a minor and two counts of attempted sexual exploitation of a minor, according to court documents.
U.S. District Judge Howard D. McKibben scheduled DeGraffenreid’s sentencing for Nov. 29 in Reno.
Prosecutors have said the Northern Nevada man photographed children as young as 3 in a bathroom at a rural day care center his mother manages inside a church.
DeGraffenreid was fired from his job as an assistant at the Heavenly Ski Resort’s ski school after his March 30 arrest. At DeGraffenreid’s home, investigators found a thumb drive that contained images of at least three preschool age girls taken inside the bathroom of a child care facility in Gardnerville, according to a plea agreement.
Defense lawyer David Houston could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
A criminal complaint claims DeGraffenreid’s cellphone found on the slopes at the Heavenly ski resort was filled with nude photos of prepubescent girls he apparently downloaded from the internet.
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