DETROIT, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- A Michigan man accused of watching mothers molest their children via webcam must be jailed as a threat to society, a judge ruled.
Steven Demink of Redford Township is facing three federal child pornography charges for befriending women in Idaho, Florida and New Hampshire on a single-parents Web site and manipulating them into abusing their children as he watched, prosecutors told the Detroit Free Press.
The "defendant is a cyberpredator of the worst kind; he is a danger to society, and virtually all children are at risk," U.S. Magistrate Mona Majzoub wrote in her detention order Friday.
During his chats, Demink would tell the mothers to sexually assault their minor children and take pictures of the acts, including some that he saw live via webcam, according to court records. In one case, he pretended to be a psychologist, telling a mother how to help her child.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Mulcahy said all three women are being prosecuted in their states. He said the case originated in Idaho.
Demink, a car salesman and former bank employee, faces at least 30 years in prison if convicted.
