The Buffalo Soldier Gate at Fort Bliss, Texas. (Rose L. Thayer/Stars and Stripes)
AUSTIN, Texas — A Fort Bliss soldier and his wife were indicted on federal charges that they held a knife to a child’s throat, did not feed her properly and confined her to the garage of their on-post home at the west Texas Army base.
The four-count indictment of Sgt. Coreydon Stepaniak and his wife Cecilia Stepaniak, both 34, spans nearly five years and accuses the couple of endangering the life of the child who federal authorities only described as a girl younger than 15 years old.
The FBI arrested Stepaniak on June 20 at Fort Irwin in California, and his wife was arrested on the same day in El Paso, according to court records filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. They are charged with conspiracy to commit injury to a child, injury to a child, child endangerment and child abandonment.
The 1st Armored Division at Fort Bliss confirmed Coreydon Stepaniak is a wheeled-vehicle mechanic who first enlisted in the Army in April 2011.
An arraignment hearing is set for Friday at the El Paso federal courthouse with Magistrate Judge Robert Castaneda. If convicted, they each face up to five years in prison for the conspiracy charge, a minimum of 180 days to two years for the injury to a child charge, and a minimum of two years to 20 years for the endangerment and abandonment charges, according to the Justice Department.
Cecilia Stepaniak, a legal guardian for the victim, is accused of visiting the child’s medical care provider April 3, 2019, and falsely telling the provider the child was “lying and out of control” and she had to be removed from elementary school for bullying other children, according to court documents.
She also told the medical staff that she had placed cameras in her home in case the child tried to lie to someone about facing abuse at home.
From that date through the summer of 2023, the couple is accused of “dangerously” restricting the child’s food intake, which caused her to suffer malnutrition.
Investigators said Cecilia Stepaniak held a sharp kitchen knife to the child’s throat in January 2022, hit her with a cellphone charging cable and kicked the child while she was on the ground.
The couple is also accused of locking the child in a dark closet at Fort Bliss on Feb. 17, 2023, for an unknown amount of time that day. Coreydon Stepaniak then unlocked the closet, shouted obscenities and threatened violence toward the child.
Throughout the years, the couple would force the child to live and sleep in a garage that did not have any heating or cooling and required her to use a bucket for a toilet. They also forced her to exercise multiple times a day for extended periods of time.
Two attorneys listed for Cecilia Stepaniak’s federal case did not respond to a request for comment. No attorneys were listed for Coreydon Stepaniak.
The FBI and the Army Criminal Investigation Division declined to offer additional information about the case, including how many children lived in the home and the exact age and condition of the child.
However, a case opened June 21 in El Paso County family court showed five children under the Stepaniaks’ care. Another attorney listed for the couple’s county case did not return a phone call Thursday. The soldier had two previously closed cases in family court, one regarding paternity in 2018, and another in 2023.
Only one child victim is referenced in federal court records.
The Defense Department’s family-focused website Military OneSource offers resources on how to report child abuse in the military community and when to make a report. The military also offers a 24/7 phone line at 800-342-9647 that provides confidential help, locates resources and expert guidance.
