2 days ago
Colburn pleads guilty to sex trafficking a minor
OXFORD – A Monroe County man, facing up to 18 life sentences for more than two dozen state and federal sex charges against at least nine underage girls — one just a toddler — pleaded guilty to a single count of sex trafficking a minor Thursday afternoon in federal court.
When Steve Gaston Colburn, 69, of Aberdeen, is sentenced Sept. 11 by Senior U.S. District Judge Mike Mills, he could get anywhere from the minimum 15-year sentence to life in prison.
During Colburn's change of plea hearing Thursday in Oxford, Assistant U.S. Attorney Parker King said the government was prepared to present evidence that would show that Colburn recruited a 13-year-old girl in 2014 and paid her to have sexual intercourse and perform oral sex. She said Colburn transported to minor to his house in Aberdeen under the guise of paying her to clean his house.
'He also encouraged Minor 1 to bring other younger girls over to his house for sex,' King said.
When asked by Judge Mills if he did in fact commit the crime listed in Count 1 of the federal indictment, Colburn simply said, 'Yes, sir.'
Several of Colburn's victims and their families were in the Oxford courtroom Thursday for the plea hearing. They will have a chance to speak and give impact statements in four months when he returned to court to be sentenced.
Colburn was scheduled to go to trial this month in both federal and state court. Both trials were delayed as Colburn's defense attorneys worked with prosecutors to work out a plea agreement that would serve justice, without forcing the underage victims to appear and testify about their ordeals in open court.
Count 1 covered a time period from May 2014 through April 2015. As part of the plea agreement, in exchange for his guilty plea, the government will drop the other eight counts in the federal indictment.
While the federal charges date back to September 2007 and the state charges go as far back as June 2011, Colburn was not arrested until early 2024.
Monroe County Sheriff Kevin Crook said Colburn was no stranger to law enforcement. They had received complaints and heard rumors about Colburn's behavior for years, but it wasn't until February 2024 when things fell into place, and they were able to make an arrest. That led to Colburn being indicted for procuring a 15-month-old girl to 'engage in commercial sexual activity.'
He was arrested days later and ordered held without bond by Circuit Judge Kelly Mims.
Once the news of the arrest got out, other victims came forward. He was initially charged with one count of human trafficking and four counts of procuring the servitude of a minor. By the time it went to the grand jury, there were nine victims, and the charges included a dozen counts of sexual battery. He was accused of sexually assaulting an 8-year-old and having sexual intercourse with girls as young as 13. The 16-count indictment covered a time period from 2011 through 2024.
That investigation bought the attention of federal authorities. They filed eight sex charges against Colburn, dating back to 2007. All of the victims were under 18 and three were under 14. He was also charged with possession of a firearm by a felon for having a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson pistol in April 2021.
