San Diego teacher who tried to pay for sex with teen gets 10 years in prison

A former University City High School science teacher and track coach who was arrested last year after trying to have sex with a 16-year-old girl was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison and 15 years of probation.

Sean Michael Stevenson, 59, pleaded guilty in June to attempted enticement of a minor. Stevenson agreed to pay $140 for sexual acts with a person he believed was an underage girl, even though the person Stevenson had arranged the meeting with was actually an undercover police officer.

Stevenson was arrested around 7 a.m. on Oct. 24, a school day, after he arrived at the agreed-upon meeting location in the Talmadge neighborhood with $140 in his car.

U.S. District Judge Anthony Battaglia said Stevenson’s case contained “deeply disturbing” facts and said such cases are “among the most abhorrent” the court sees. The judge said the prison sentence, the mandatory minimum for such an offense, was appropriate punishment for Stevenson and hopefully will deter others from committing the same crime.

Stevenson must register as a sex offender.

“Mr. Stevenson’s determination to purchase sexual acts from a minor is appalling,” U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath said in a statement. “Thankfully, he was caught before he harmed an actual child. Today’s sentence reflects the extent of our commitment to protecting the vulnerable from exploitation.”

Stevenson spoke only briefly on Thursday, telling the judge that he felt guilty about his actions and that he wanted to abuse the treatment of sex offenders in prison. He promised that he would never get into legal trouble again.

“Mr. Stevenson deeply regrets his behavior … and has accepted that his life as he knew it, including his career and a significant portion of his freedom, is over,” his attorney, Dana Grimes, wrote in a sentencing document.

Stevenson taught environmental science and biology at University City High. He also was the head coach of the Centurions’ boys cross country team and was a varsity assistant for track and field, according to the school’s athletics website at the time of his arrest.

“There is no evidence of inappropriate relationships with minors throughout his coaching or teaching career,” Grimes wrote in the sentencing memorandum. Stevenson had taught high school for nine years, his attorney said.

The events leading to Stevenson’s arrest began in a roundabout way in April 2023, when police responded to a report of a robbery at a 7-Eleven convenience store and encountered a juvenile human trafficking victim who told officers that her pimp and his “bottom” — a pimp’s most trusted prostitute — had assaulted her, according to a criminal complaint and a search warrant in Stevenson’s case. Days later, officers with the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force arrested the suspected pimp and his other prostitute at a San Bernardino-area motel and seized their phones as evidence.

During a subsequent search of that woman’s phone, officers found messages between her and Stevenson discussing the acquisition of an underage girl for sex, the complaint and warrant said. Stevenson admitted in his plea that during that conversation, he texted the prostitute asking if she “knew any younger girls that I could pay you a premium for.”

He also sent a text message that read, “The younger the better,” and told the other woman, “Keep this in mind when you meet high school-aged girls.” When the woman suggested an 18-year-old girl, he replied, “Not young enough.”

In October, an undercover officer retrieved the conversation with Stevenson using the confiscated phone. The officer posed as the other woman and said her 16-year-old nephew was looking for a way to make some money as a prostitute.

“Oh (expletive), yeah!” Stevenson responded, according to his plea agreement. Later, after discussing prices for various sex acts, he texted, “Okay. Well, I’m definitely interested in her!”

After a few weeks of exchanging messages in which he repeatedly asked for photos of the teen, Stevenson agreed to meet her for a “car date,” according to his plea agreement. When he arrived, police were waiting to arrest him.