SYRACUSE -- The Hermon man accused of kidnapping and sexually abusing two Amish sisters in August has pleaded guilty to all counts in U.S. District Court, Syracuse, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

He could be sentenced to centuries behind bars.

Stephen M. Howells II, 39, of Hermon pleaded guilty today to all 21 counts of a federal indictment charging him with child exploitation offenses, according to United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and Andrew T. Vale, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Albany Division.

Howells will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Glenn T. Suddaby on Friday, September 18 at 11 a.m. in Syracuse.

A trial is scheduled for co-defendant Nicole Vaisey on June 22 before Judge Suddaby in Syracuse.

Howells pled guilty to conspiracy to produce child pornography, producing child pornography and possessing child pornography. The conspiracy count and 15 additional counts relate to Howells’ sexual abuse of six separate children, ranging in age from 5 to 11, and his filming of that abuse on 16 dates between December 2012 and August 2014. Howells is charged alone in six of those counts.

Vaisey is also charged with conspiracy and nine of the production counts. Howells also pled guilty to five counts of possession of child pornography, separate and apart from the children and images charged in the first 16 counts of the superseding indictment. These counts relate to numerous image and video files Howells collected from the internet and downloaded to each of five separate hard drives from computers that were recovered from his residence. These images and video files also involve prepubescent minors and minors under the age of 12.

From September 2013 to August 2014, Howells conspired with Vaisey to produce child pornography. Howells obtained drugs through his work as a registered nurse and he used the drugs to sedate the child victims. On 16 specified dates between December 2012 and August 2014, Howells sexually abused six children, ranging in age from 5 to 11, sometimes with Vaisey, as Howells or Vaisey filmed that abuse. The pair planned to abduct children to engage in sexually explicit conduct. They kidnapped two Amish children from a farm stand in August 2014 to use them to engage in sexually explicit conduct and produce images and videos of that conduct. On Aug. 15, 2014, Howells possessed five separate computer hard drives containing numerous image and video files of actual young children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Howells faces at least 15 years imprisonment, and up to 30 years on the conspiracy charge, as well as on each of the substantive exploitation counts. He also faces a maximum sentence of 20 years on each of the possession counts. The court has the discretion to run all of these sentences concurrently or consecutively to one another. Howells will also be required to serve a term of supervised release of a minimum of 5 years and up to life to follow any term of incarceration. In addition, conviction on any count will require Howells to register as a sex offender.

“The criminal conduct committed by Stephen Howells is beyond comprehension,” U.S. Attorney Richard S. Hartunian said. “Our hearts go out to all the young victims who endured his unspeakable acts.We will continue to do everything in our power to see that he will never abuse another innocent child. I commend the community, the St. Lawrence County Sheriffís Office, the New York State Police, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for working tirelessly to bring him to justice.”

“The crimes committed by Howells are some of the most horrific imaginable,” said Special Agent in Charge Andrew W. Vale. “He carefully planned and carried out these abuses and exploitations, and today's guilty plea is the result of a vigorous investigation to locate Howells and uncover the full extent of his criminal actions. The FBI commends the work and dedication of its law enforcement partners and the U.S. Attorney's Office. It is because of this essential collaboration that the victims were recovered and that Howells is receiving justice for his crimes.”

The St. Lawrence County Sheriffís Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case with assistance from the New York State Police. It is being prosecuted by assistant United States attorneys Lisa Fletcher and Tamara Thomson.

The case is brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, Hartunian said. Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Divisions Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS). For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.