Federal child porn charges filed against former U-M resident physician Stephen Jenson

By Lee Higgins Crime and courts reporter

Posted on Wed, Feb 15, 2012 : 6:16 p.m.

Federal child pornography charges have been filed against a former resident physician at University of Michigan Hospital who authorities said left a thumb drive containing child porn in the Pediatric Emergency Department.

Stephen Jenson, 36, of Pittsfield Township, was charged Tuesday in a federal criminal complaint with receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography.

Jenson

Records show University of Michigan officials waited 6 months to report it to police after child porn was found last May in a locked lounge residents use at the hospital.

Jenson worked at the hospital until late December. He was previously charged by Washtenaw County prosecutors with four counts of possessing child sexually abusive material and is scheduled to return to court in that case Thursday for a preliminary hearing.

To date, investigators have recovered 97 images and four videos of suspected child porn on Jenson's electronic storage devices, according to an affidavit by U.S. Secret Service Special Agent Kevin Nowakowski. The alleged illegal conduct occurred between January 2011 and Dec. 2, 2011, records say.

The delayed report to police prompted the university to conduct an internal review. At least eight people knew about the alleged crime by June 2, records show, but no one reported it to police until November. A physician who knew about the child porn came forward, in part, because of the Penn State University football child sex abuse scandal.

The university didn't fire anyone after the internal review, but said Friday that corrective action is being taken.

The U.S. Department of Education continues to look into the matter.

If convicted in the federal case of possessing child pornography, Jenson faces a minimum of five years in prison.