Jul 21, 2015 4 min read

WAYNESBURG – A Beaver County man who pleaded guilty earlier this year to sending lewd photos of himself to two young Nemacolin girls before arranging a meeting with them last May backpedaled on his guilt briefly during his sentencing hearing Tuesday afternoon.

Stephen A. Dayton, 28, of Wampum, told Greene County President Judge Farley Toothman that undercover police officers messaging him on social media pushed for him to meet the girls at a Beaver County pizza shop May 7, 2014, when he was arrested.

“I’ve never seen this girl, met this girl,” Dayton said while taking the stand during his sentencing hearing. “It was all over Facebook. Franklin (Beaver County) police were trying to get me … to meet with her. I proceeded to meet her and it was the police.”

A parent of one of the girls contacted Cumberland Township police in April 2014 and reported a Facebook user by the name “Ryan Grams” sent photos of his genitals. Investigators asked and received permission to access the girl’s Facebook page and continue the conversation.

The conversations between Dayton and the girls, one of whom was 10, over social media private messages continued from April to May 2014 before his arrest.

Dayton pleaded guilty in February to five felony counts of unlawful contact with a child and one felony charge of unlawful use of a communications facility.

He attempted to downplay his culpability while on the stand, claiming “things got a little too far” and investigators pushed him to meet with the girls.

He also said he did not know the one girl’s age until police told him during his arrest, although his own defense attorney, Patrick Fitch, showed him chat messages in which the girl told him she was 10. Dayton told the girl he was only 14 and also sent her a photo of his genitals.

The judge appeared troubled Dayton seemed to deny wrongdoing about arranging the meeting that led to his arrest. Toothman reminded Dayton “there are two real people here who are juveniles” and victims in the case.

“You decided to plead guilty even though you have – had – a right to bring your case to a jury?” the judge said. “And you chose not to do it?”

“Yes,” Dayton responded.

“What do you think you did wrong?” Toothman continued.

“I should’ve never posted photos of my lower area,” Dayton said. “I should’ve been more respectful.”

Fitch reminded Dayton of the chat messages and told the judge his client knew the girls were juveniles and he knowingly admitted to being guilty of the charges.

“You did lie,” Toothman said. “You lied about your age, about your name.”

Assistant Attorney General Jessel Costa said prosecutors are concerned that Dayton “still tends to minimize his actions” and asked for the judge to impose a sentence within the guidelines.

“There are live victims in this case,” Costa said. “We don’t think we can state the seriousness of these actions enough and think Mr. Dayton should take it that way, as well.”

Toothman sentenced Dayton to serve six-to-22 months in jail, followed by 26 months of probation. He was also ordered to perform 225 hours of community service and pay a $600 fine and court costs. Dayton must also register as a sex offender on the Megan’s List website for 25 years.

Dayton told the judge he was “working at night, trying to keep out of trouble” and helping to care for his ailing mother.

“It upsets me a lot,” Dayton said. “I’m not a bad person. It was a mistake.”

“You will have this regret of these exchanges on the Internet for a long time,” Toothman said before Dayton was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs. “There’s a lot of good in you, but you sank to a criminal, culpable low.”