FBI Arrests Pulaski Town Councilman for Child Exploitation Crimes

ROANOKE, Va. - The Pulaski County Work Report Program Coordinator and current member of the Pulaski Town Council, who previously served as a sheriff's deputy and corrections officer, was arrested today by the FBI.

Steven Wayne Erickson, 48, was arrested on a federal criminal complaint and charged with one count of receipt of child sexual abuse material ("CSAM") and one count of distribution of CSAM.

According to court records, the FBI received a cyber tip regarding potential child sexual exploitation occurring over Kik, a messaging app. Through search warrants and other legal process, agents discovered that Erickson used two Kik accounts prolifically.

Kik records revealed several instances where Erickson solicited and shared CSAM with other Kik users. In 2025, a user referred to as "Cravt" (based on their username) sent Erickson almost 100 photos of Cravt's purported family, including elementary-aged minors. Erickson encouraged Cravt to use AI to transform the photos. In mid-October 2025, Cravt sent apparently AI-generated CSAM of minors - some depicting at least one of Cravt's minor children - to Erickson. Erickson sent back videos of himself masturbating to the CSAM.

In late February of this year, another user, "Tribbin," sent Erickson video taken from a hidden camera that depicted an apparently teenaged minor unknowingly exposing herself to use the bathroom. Erickson sent back a video showing him masturbating to the video. Erickson later asked for more material, but Tribbin said he hadn't had company over for his hidden camera to capture.

In March, Erickson chatted with another user who claimed they sexually assaulted their 9-year-old daughter. Erickson sent a photo of his genitals in exchange for a sexually explicit photo of the daughter, and he repeatedly urged the user to send images of the daughter being abused.

In early April, Erickson sent another user, "Benji," photos of a minor, some of which appeared to be taken without the minor's awareness. With Erickson's direction, Benji used AI to generate various sexualized and exploitative images of the minor. Erickson sent back videos of himself masturbating to the AI-generated CSAM. Erickson also urged Benji to "abuse" the minor and make them as young as Benji could. At Benji's prompting, Erickson described his fantasies of sexually assaulting the minor.

In later April, Erickson sent several photos, again including photos of a minor, to another user, "Tony." Tony used AI to generate a video of individuals stripping nude. Erickson forwarded this video to a second Kik account.

In several instances, Erickson sent images of himself to other users to prove he was real. For example, Erickson sent a photo of himself touching his nose and video of himself relaying the date and time. Erickson also sent a photo of a sheriff's office badge. The badge displayed "Commonwealth of Virginia," but Erickson's thumb blocked the county name.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating the case.

First Assistant United States Attorney Robert N. Tracci District of Virginia, and Ian Kaufmann, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Richmond Division made the announcement.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Drew O. Inman is prosecuting the case.

The case is brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the DOJ's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identity and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/Links to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link..

A criminal complaint is merely an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.