PLANO, Texas - Steven Dale Criddle, 51, a former Juvenile Probation Officer from Bryan, Texas, was sentenced to 190 months in federal prison for attempting to solicit sexual relations with an eleven-year-old child. The sentencing was announced by Eastern District of Texas U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs.
Criddle pleaded guilty to attempted coercion and enticement of a minor. U.S. District Judge Jeremy D. Kernodle imposed the sentence on July 1, 2026. According to information presented in court, Criddle was convicted for conversing on the dark web with an individual he believed to be a mother who would allow him to sexually molest her eleven-year-old daughter.
Arrangements were made for the encounter. On September 28, 2025, Criddle drove three hours from Bryan to Wylie, Texas, the location where he planned to sexually molest the eleven-year-old girl. Criddle was apprehended by law enforcement at the scene and admitted that he traveled to Wylie for the purpose of molesting the girl. He further admitted that he possessed child pornography on his cell phone.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.
