Heavenly employee arrested on child exploitation and pornography charges

A 26-year-old male employee at the Heavenly Mountain Resort children’s ski school was officially charged Wednesday for child exploitation and possession of child pornography after images were found on an electronic device at the resort.

Stephan L. DeGraffenreid of Gardnerville was charged with one count of sexual exploitation of a child, two counts of attempted sexual exploitation of a child, and one count of possession of child pornography.

DeGraffenreid admitted to downloading and possessing explicit images of children at a Gardnerville day care facility rest room, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Steven W. Myhre for the District of Nevada.

Law enforcement discovered child pornography on an Apple iPod Touch that was found at Heavenly's Children’s Ski School. During the investigation they learned the iPod belonged to DeGraffenreid who was an employee the resort.

A thumb drive with the day care images was found during the execution of a search warrant at his residence.

The suspect is currently in the Washoe County Jail after being arrested on March 31.

"We terminated Mr. DeGraffenreid from the Heavenly Ski Resort immediately upon learning of the investigation by the authorities," said Kevin Cooper, Senior Communications Manager for Heavenly. "We have no reason to believe that the alleged activity has any connection to Heavenly Ski Resort or its guests. The alleged activity is abhorrent to everything that our resort stands for and we remain available to cooperate with the authorities in their investigation, if requested."

The case is being investigated by the FBI, the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, and the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shannon M. Bryant.

DeGraffenreid faces the mandatory statutory minimum penalty is 15 years in prison for each of the sexual exploitation and attempted sexual exploitation charges according to the U.S. Attorney General's statement.