A former Cherokee County sheriff’s deputy was sentenced Thursday to 15 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to receiving child sexual abuse images and attempting to arrange sexual contact with a child overseas.
What happened: 42-year-old Stephen Michael Bunte of Calhoun was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William M. Ray, II in federal court in the Northern District of Georgia. Bunte was still working as a Cherokee County deputy sheriff when the crimes took place.
What he did: Starting in May 2023, Bunte made contact with a child trafficker in the Philippines who was selling access to live webcam streams showing children under 12 being sexually abused. The trafficker also offered paying customers direct physical access to the children, including his own. Over roughly 10 months, Bunte and the trafficker exchanged more than 14,000 messages and 15 phone calls. During that time, Bunte received at least 35 abuse images involving three children ages 6, 10, and 14.
How he was caught: Federal agents had been investigating child sex trafficking networks in the Philippines since August 2023, when they identified the trafficker. By March 2024, those agents had found communications tying Bunte to the case.
The guilty plea: Bunte pleaded guilty on November 4, 2025 to one count of enticement of a minor and one count of receiving child sexual abuse material. Both are federal crimes.
The sentence: In addition to 15 years in prison, Bunte must serve 15 years of supervised release, a period of court-monitored freedom after his prison term ends. He is also required to register as a sex offender.
The Path Forward: The sex offender registration requirement carries long-term restrictions on where Bunte can live and work after his release. The 15-year supervised release term means federal court oversight will continue well into his later years.
B.T. Clark
B.T. Clark is an award-winning journalist and the Publisher of The Georgia Sun. He has 25 years of experience in journalism and served as Managing Editor of Neighbor Newspapers in metro Atlanta for 15 years and Digital Director at Times-Journal Inc. for 8 years. His work has appeared in several newspapers throughout the state including Neighbor Newspapers, The Cherokee Tribune and The Marietta Daily Journal. He is a Georgia native and a fifth-generation Georgian.
