A man in Iowa who admitted to sexually abusing his daughter dozens of times—from infancy to age six—learned this week that he will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
A statement issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Iowa announced that Steven Douglas Crook Jr., 29, was sentenced Monday to 120 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to four counts of sexual exploitation of a child. Evidence showed that Crook would document the sexual abuse, which sometimes became violent.
While the statement didn’t disclose the relationship between Crook and the victim, KTVO reported that Crook is the girl’s father.
“Crook took photographs and videos of the sexual abuse, and, in some cases, livestreamed the abuse using the popular social media application Live.me,” the statement detailed. “In doing so, he encouraged his followers on Live.me to watch him rape the little girl live on the Internet.”
Law enforcement rescued the 6-year-old girl from Crook’s home in March 2018. He later told authorities that he raped the child “less than 100 times,” the Des Moines Register reported, citing police records.
A criminal complaint stated that authorities discovered electronic devices in Crook’s possession that depicted the abuse. One of the seized items was a storage card containing a folder named “child porn and baby rape,” according to the news outlet.
The girl’s mother, Kendra Hoover, was arrested in February for allegedly leaving their daughter with Crook even after seeing a video of him sexually assaulting the child. The Ottumwa Courier reported that she’s charged with multiple counts of neglect or abandonment of a dependent person and child endangerment. Her trial is scheduled for September.
United States Attorney Marc Krickbaum said in the press release, “In this case, [the] sexual abuse went undetected for years because family members failed to report it to authorities.”
[Featured image: Steven Douglas Crook Jr., Kendra Hoover/David County Sheriff’s Office]
