Calif. man gets 25 years in prison for traveling to Thailand to have sex with minors

Calif. man gets 25 years for sex with Thai minors

LOS ANGELES — A former English teacher has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for traveling to Thailand to have sex with minors.

The sentence was ordered after prosecutors challenged a previous 10-year sentence, calling it too lenient.

U.S. District Judge Consuelo Marshall said Friday that 61-year-old Steven Erik Prowler’s conduct was particularly “depraved.”

Prowler pleaded guilty in February 2007 to federal charges of traveling abroad with the intent to have sex with a minor and to engaging in illicit sexual conduct with minors in another country.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed his first 10-year sentence following a Justice Department appeal.

Prowler was arrested in Bangkok by the Royal Thai Police in 2005.