Ex-DEA agent hit with new sex charge

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Wednesday, May 28, 2003 | 11:19 a.m.

Steven Kinney, a former Drug Enforcement Administration agent awaiting sentencing in Las Vegas on state and federal charges of soliciting sex from children, was arrested Sunday in Mississippi after allegedly approaching three boys at a Wal-Mart, police said.

Kinney, 43, is charged with three counts of attempted molestation, Vicksburg Police Lt. Billy Brown said this morning. Kinney, who is scheduled to be arraigned today in Vicksburg, is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail. Because he still needs to be sentenced in the Las Vegas case, if Kinney makes bail he will be turned over to federal custody, Brown said.

Kinney was arrested at the entrance of the Vicksburg Wal-Mart after a boy told his parents he had been contacted inside the store, Brown said. The following day, two additional families showed up to file similar complaints, Brown said. All of the alleged victims are younger than 16, Brown said.

The circumstances of the Vicksburg case appear similar to Kinney's March 2002 arrest in Las Vegas.

"We're looking at nearly the same thing," Brown said. "(Kinney) did try to pass a note to a minor soliciting sexual activity, and the minor informed his parents who called 911."

Kinney's Las Vegas lawyer, David Chesnoff, could not be reached for comment today.

Kinney pleaded guilty March 25 to a federal charge of coercion and enticement of a minor for sex. As part of his plea agreement, the U.S. attorney's office recommended he be sentenced to three years in prison. He earlier pleaded guilty to 15 counts of soliciting sex from a minor in exchange for the Clark County District Attorney not seeking more than 12 years in prison.

In a court hearing July 25, 2002, District Attorney Eric Jorgensen sought to have Kinney's bail revoked. Judge Joseph Bonaventure allowed Kinney to remain free on bail as long as he was the subject of "intensive supervision and daily contact," according to court records.

Kinney was required to call the county jail daily, a court spokesman said.