Wisconsin Prosecutor Charged For Secretly Filming Sexual Encounters With Women

A long-time Wisconsin prosecutor was charged of secretly filming his sexual encounters with two women who had cases or pending cases with his office, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

Daniel P. Steffen, 50, of Osceola, faces three felony counts of representations depicting nudity in connection with the sexual encounters in 2018, court documents showed.

In an interview with the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Steffen said he was "anxious for the truth to come out." Bruce Patrick Anderson, his lawyer, declined when asked to comment by AP.

Based on a criminal complaint, a witness told investigators in early 2020 that a woman she knew revealed having sex with Steffen in exchange for leniency on her pending cases.

The woman, identified as Victim 1, said she had sex with Steffen on numerous occasions at her home, his house, and his office during working hours, the affidavit states.

Investigators obtained a search warrant issued by the court in October last year and found an iPad in Steffen's bedroom containing three intimate videos, according to the complaint.

Victim 1 told investigators she was not aware of the filming and that they were recorded without her consent.

Investigators spoke with another woman, Victim 2, who said she started a relationship of mostly "hookups" with Steffen in 2018 and said the video, which she did not consent to, was likely filmed from the first time they had sex.

Steffen is scheduled to appear at the Circuit Court in Polk County on Feb. 15. A resident of Polk, Steffen has served as the county's lawyer for a decade before losing a re-election bid in 2016. He has worked in the Burnett County office since February 2017.

He could spend three and a half years in prison and and/or fined $10,000 if convicted.