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Steven Powell guilty in child porn trial

Posted at 4:54 PM, Jul 13, 2015
and last updated 2015-07-13 18:55:58-04

TACOMA, Wash. — A jury deliberated only a few hours before finding Steven Powell guilty of possession of child pornography.

Powell, the father-in-law of missing West Valley City mom Susan Cox Powell, was convicted of taking pictures of neighbor girls without their knowledge. It’s his second trial on charges that stemmed from a 2011 raid on his home in the search for the missing Utah woman. A judge at his original trial dismissed the charge but a Washington state appeals court reinstated it.

On Monday, the judge who presided over Steven Powell’s trial ordered him held without bail until he is sentenced on August 21. He faces up to five years in prison.

Susan Cox Powell vanished from her West Valley City home in 2009. She has never been found. Her husband, Josh Powell, was considered a prime suspect in her disappearance. He killed himself and the couple’s two children in 2012.