Kevin Grasha

kgrasha@lsj.com

Accused owns EMD Weapon store in Lansing

Complaint: Met one of the girls when she was 13, married her when she turned 18

GRAND RAPIDS – The owner of a Lansing Taser business solicited girls online, groomed them to produce child pornography and eventually lived with two of them, court documents say.

Ryan Van Stevenson met one of the girls when she was 13 years old and married her when she turned 18, according to a federal complaint unsealed last week in U.S. District Court. They have two children together.

Stevenson, 32, faces multiple federal child pornography charges. He was arrested Friday by the FBI, court records show.

Another teen Stevenson met when she was 15 moved in with him and his young wife a few years later, the complaint says.

"They all slept in the same bed together, and Stevenson made (his wife) watch him have sex with (the teenage girl)," the complaint says.

After searches Aug. 20 of his Lansing home and business, investigators found child pornography involving both girls, the complaint says.

All the rooms in the house have surveillance cameras which could be monitored from Stevenson's office. And all exterior doors were affixed with locks requiring keys to exit, according to the complaint. Both alleged victims told investigators they were able to leave, but "Stevenson controlled where they went and with whom they could interact."

Stevenson is being represented by a federal public defender, David Kaczor, who did not return messages Wednesday seeking comment.

Stevenson owns EMD Weapon at 6425 S. Pennsylvania Ave., court documents say. The business's website says it is a distributor of Tasers. In 2012, he set up Masters Empire Inc. with the state, records show.

A Facebook profile for Masters Empire says it "specializes in erotic arts and photography in Michigan and nationwide." Stevenson's license plate, according to the complaint, is "1MASTER." One of his email addresses is "sexslavetrainer@gmail.com," the complaint says.

The complaint details diary entries from the 15-year-old who later moved in with Stevenson and his wife. She talked about wanting to be Stevenson's "slave." In one entry, she wrote: "I may even get the title of Main Slave."

Investigators also found sexually explicit images of the 15-year-old that she sent to Stevenson by email.

In June, the teen left her parents' home in Oregon and texted them that she was in Lansing, the complaint says. Three days later, she took an airplane back to Oregon — and without ever leaving the airport — she "got on another plane and flew back to Lansing using a plane ticket arranged by Stevenson," the complaint says.

She has been reunited with her family, the complaint says.

The complaint details multiple online postings allegedly from Stevenson, beginning in 2005, when he was 23, involving underage girls.

Stevenson and his wife met in an online chat room more than a decade ago when she was 13. The complaint says he took her to a hotel and "engaged in various sexual acts with her" and photographed her "engaged in sexually explicit conduct."

She told investigators she found numerous videos of Stevenson driving around schools and college campuses "filming girls while they were not aware."

In 2007, the complaint says that Stevenson asked for "a young bull in Michigan to impregnate my 18y/o (girlfriend) while I watch." His girlfriend would have been 17 at the time, the complaint says.

In another online post, Stevenson wrote, according to the complaint: "Hey, any girls with a cell wanna (text) with an older college guy?? ... Yea (I'm) a perv sometimes, but (I'm) nice and cool so don't be shy."