CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. – A jury found McKenzie Hellman guilty of all five charges against him.
Hellman was in Montgomery General District Court on Monday and pleaded not guilty to producing child porn, reproducing child porn, animate object sexual penetration, producing child porn and forcible sodomy.
The jury recommended Hellman serve two life sentences and his sentencing is set for June 29.
While Hellman is also charged with second-degree murder and a charge of child abuse and neglect in connection with the boy’s death, a trial date has not yet been set for those charges.
McKenzie Kyle Hellman, center, stands while being questioned in court.
A Christiansburg man who is facing several felony charges in connection with the sexual abuse of his girlfriend’s toddler son has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
McKenzie Hellman and his girlfriend, Kayla Thomas, are accused of murdering and sexually abusing her 2-year-old son, Steven Dale Meek II in 2019.
Hellman was in Montgomery General District Court on Monday and pleaded not guilty to producing child porn, reproducing child porn, animate object sexual penetration, producing child porn and forcible sodomy. The charge of forcible sodomy carries a possible sentence of life in prison.
While Hellman is also charged with second-degree murder and a charge of child abuse and neglect in connection with the boy’s death, a trial date has not yet been set for those charges.
In opening statements, the prosecution alleged that Hellman said that everything that happened was his idea and he asked Thomas to do it; however, the defense said that Hellman didn’t actually participate, and it was Thomas who actually carried out the acts in question.
Authorities told the court they performed a forensic scan on Hellman’s phone and found a photo of a toddler with something being done to him.
Authorities also performed a forensic scan of Thomas’s phone and found five videos, as well as a message from Hellman asking for videos from her involving her son that had since been deleted from Facebook Messenger.
During court, the jury was shown a 45-minute audio interview with Hellman that was done a week after the incident occurred. In the interview, Hellman said he was trying to explore the extent of his sexual desires, but said in the end that he was disgusted by them.
Hellman said during the interview that he was not there when Thomas filmed the videos of her son but admitted that he had a problem when it comes to porn and his sexual desires and says he needed help. He also said that he didn’t want to drag Thomas down because he asked her to send the videos.
10 News has covered this case extensively. Read more from our coverage:
- Court date set for Christiansburg mother charged with making child porn, sexually assaulting her son (Published Aug. 20, 2020)
- Court date set for Christiansburg man accused of killing girlfriend’s toddler son (Published June 22, 2020)
- Christiansburg man accused of killing girlfriend’s toddler son indicted on 6 felony charges (Published Jan. 28, 2020)
- Hearing reveals alleged abuse New River Valley toddler faced before his death (Published Dec. 20, 2019)
- Christiansburg man accused of killing girlfriend’s toddler son deemed fit to stand trial (Published Oct. 25, 2019)
- Christiansburg mother charged in connection with toddler’s death expected to enter a plea (Published Oct. 16, 2019)
- Case continued for Christiansburg mother charged with sexually abusing her now-dead toddler (Published June 19, 2019)
- Mental evaluation ordered for Christiansburg man accused of killing his girlfriend’s toddler son (Published June. 3, 2019)
- Christiansburg man accused of killing toddler asks for sanity, competency evaluation (Published May 30, 2019)
- Christiansburg mother, boyfriend who police say sexually abused her 2-year-old son appear in court (Published Feb. 28, 2019)
- Boyfriend charged with murder, he and mother sexually abused 2-year-old, police say (Published Jan. 18, 2019)
- Mother of 2-year-old who died charged with making child porn, sexually assaulting children (Published Jan. 17, 2019)
- 2-year-old boy dies, Christiansburg man now faces child abuse charge (Published Jan. 14, 2019)