Ex-Heavenly ski instructor pleads guilty to child porn charges

RENO, Nev. - A former children's ski instructor at a Lake Tahoe resort faces up to 45 years in prison after pleading guilty to three felony child pornography charges.

Stephan DeGraffenreid, 26, of Gardnerville pleaded Tuesday to one count of sexual exploitation of a minor and two counts of attempted sexual exploitation. He faces 15 years for each charge at his Nov. 29 sentencing in federal court in Reno.

DeGraffenreid was fired from his job as an assistant at the Heavenly Ski Resort before his arrest in March.

A criminal complaint said his cellphone found on the resort's slopes was filled with nude photos of prepubescent females he apparently downloaded from the internet. Prosecutors say a subsequent investigation determined he photographed children as young as 3 in a bathroom at a rural daycare center his mother managed inside a Gardnerville church.