House SAA employee arrested, charged with possession of child pornography
Stefan Bieret, 41, was arrested and charged with felonies
A House Sergeant at Arms Office employee was arrested Wednesday for allegedly possessing child pornography in Fairfax County, Va.
Stefan Bieret, 41, of Burke, Va., was charged with 10 counts related to possession of child sexual abuse images, a Thursday Fairfax County Police release said.
Police obtained a warrant and searched Bieret’s home Wednesday and “recovered multiple electronics,” the release said. Bieret was then taken into custody and charged with the 10 felony counts.
Bieret is being held without bond at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center, a jail official confirmed. He is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 22.
As a congressional employee, Bieret worked for the House Sergeant at Arms, the office responsible for maintaining order and security on the House side of the Capitol, along with fulfilling other ceremonial and support duties.
He also spent time working for the Capitol Police, serving in a civilian role in the Security Services Bureau front office from April 2019 to September 2020, a Capitol Police spokesperson confirmed.
Capitol Police directed questions on his current employment status to the House SAA, which did not respond to requests for comment.
Fairfax County Police said the investigation began when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children was given information that a potentially illicit image was being uploaded to a Dropbox account. The center then notified the Northern Virginia Washington, D.C. Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force of this CyberTipline lead.
The account on the cloud-based file-hosting service was then traced to an owner living in Fairfax County, police said.
“Detectives from our Major Crimes Bureau’s Missing and Exploited Persons Squad were notified in August and assumed the investigation,” the police statement said.
A warrant was obtained to search the contents of the Dropbox account, and more “child sexual abuse material” was allegedly found. Detectives assigned to the investigation are continuing to examine the “digital evidence that was recovered from the scene,” the statement said.
Police urged anyone with information regarding cases related to the exploitation of children to contact the Major Crimes Bureau at 703-246-7800, option 6, or submit anonymous tips through Crime Solvers, at 1-866-411-8477.