Document: Mother, suspect discussed taking invasive photos of woman’s minor son

Federal investigators arrested a former New Mexico Mounted Patrol Lieutenant for allegedly distributing child pornography.

According to a criminal complaint, 45-year-old Steven Vaillancourt II was communicating with a woman about sharing and producing child pornography of the woman’s minor children.

ABC-7’s New Mexico Mobile Newsroom reports, that up until his arrest, Vaillancourt was a lieutenant with the New Mexico Mounted Patrol, a volunteer law enforcement agency.

On February 8, 2018, Homeland Security agents obtained a search warrant for an email account believed to belong to Vaillancourt.

A review of the emails, revealed Vaillancourt was communicating with a woman with two children who are minors. The court document refers to the woman as “M1.”

During an email exchange, M1 and Vaillancourt allegedly discussed placing a hidden camera in the bathroom to record footage of one of M1’s minor sons, the criminal complaint states. “The context of the conversation implies the purpose would be to collect naked pictures of the minor,” the document further states. Investigators said other conversations between Vaillancourt and M1 involved discussions about M1’s son and his genitals.

In one of the conversations, M1 allegedly told Vaillancourt there was a specific place in the bathroom where he could set up a phone to record her son masturbating, the criminal complaint states. Vaillancourt allegedly asked M1 if she would let him see the footage, the document states.

On March 12, 2018, Vaillancourt and M1 allegedly exchanged text messages in which they “discussed having sexual contact with M1’s minor son.” The document states text messages from Vaillancourt advised M1 into how she could “groom” and convince her minor son to have sex with her. Vaillancourt allegedly advised M1 to lie down next to her son wearing only a t-shirt and a thong so her “cheeks are bare.” The conversations reveal Vaillancourt told M1 to touch her son’s genital area, the criminal complaint states.

During that same conversation, M1 allegedly asked Vaillancourt if he wanted any pictures and Vaillancourt allegedly replied, “Only if there are pics you can take safely.” The court document states Vaillancourt asked M1 if she knew what type of photos he wanted. When M1 asked what he needed, Vaillancourt allegedly sent M1 “six photos of male penises and anuses,” the criminal complaint states.

“One particular photo depicts a small male penis with no visible sign of pubic hair,” an investigator wrote in the criminal complaint, “the photos appear to show the genitalia of a minor under the age of 18.”

The criminal complaint states Vaillancourt then sent M1 a text message stating, “Even little (expletive) need attention.” The document states Vaillancourt then proceeded to send M1 two additional photos of genitalia believed to be that of a minor.

If convicted, Vaillancourt could face up to 20 years in prison. Investigators have not revealed the identity of the woman referred to as M1, nor have they said if she will face charges.