Public defender arrested: ; Man accused of attempting to prostitute children over the Internet

Police arrested a Kanawha County assistant public defenderWednesday for allegedly trying to prostitute children as young as 5years old over the Internet.

After a weeks-long investigation involving the FBI, localdetectives and police in Asbury Park, N.J., Charleston policeofficers escorted Steve Conifer to Kanawha County Magistrate Court,where he was arraigned late Wednesday afternoon.

Conifer was charged under a section of state law titled"receiving support from prostitution; pimping; penalty; prostitutemay testify." A first offense that involves a minor is punishable bya prison sentence of not less than two years and a fine of up to$5,000.

Last week, police searched Conifer's apartment at 1424 KanawhaBlvd. E. after Asbury Park police told Charleston police thatConifer had an online conversation with a man in New Jersey andtried to sell him young children for sex.

"well, gimmie an idea of age, service, [amount] of time u want,and I can try to give you an exact price, depending on the boy,"Conifer, using the screen name "derekscarbor93," allegedly typed tothe man. "haha. Call me a pimp if u want 2. Don't bother me. Justmakin sure we're both on the same page."

At one point during the correspondence, Conifer allegedly askedthe New Jersey man if he would like to see a picture of an"unbelieveably cute white boy" that he could get to him "in ahurry," according to a criminal complaint filed in Kanawha CountyMagistrate Court.

He then allegedly sent the man a picture of a young boy wearing aGreen Bay Packers football jersey, the complaint states.

Conifer allegedly said he had "hookups" all over New Jersey,according to the complaint.

"Derekscarbor93" is spelled different ways in both the complaintand the search warrant. Charleston Police spokesman Sgt. BobbyEggleton said he did not know the reasons for the differentspellings or why Conifer would have chosen such a specific screenname.

During last week's search, police seized several of Conifer'scomputer hard drives, which they believed to contain images of childpornography.

Investigators found a picture of the boy in the Packers jersey onthe hard drive of Conifer's laptop, the complaint states. It doesnot indicate whether detectives found any child pornography on thecomputers.

Eggleton said that police have asked for at least one more searchwarrant for other items in Conifer's apartment that will "hopefully[contain] useful stuff that will strengthen the case."

He said police have not found any actual child prostitutes aspart of the investigation, but the idea of children being used inprostitution was enough to spur the investigation, he said.

"We look at this as being a serious crime," he said.

As an assistant public defender, Conifer represented clients inmental hygiene cases. He says he rarely had clients younger thantheir mid- to late teens.

Kanawha County Public Defender George Castelle said Conifer hasbeen suspended from his job. "We have received notice of the chargeand Steve has been suspended as of today," Castelle said. "Theoffice still recognizes the presumption of innocence, and is deeplysaddened by the charges."

Conifer was arraigned before county Magistrate Traci Carper-Strickland and was released after posting 10 percent of his $50,000bond.

kenny kemp | Gazette Charleston Police detectives escort countyassistant public defender Steve Conifer to Kanawha County MagistrateCourt late Wednesday afternoon.

Reach Zac Taylor