To Catch a Predator · Petaluma investigation
Steven Cartlidge
Also reported as Steven Eugene Cartlidge
Steven Cartlidge was sentenced following the Petaluma investigation. His original 90-day jail term was later replaced by a 180-day term after proposed alternatives were not completed.
Photo: To Catch a Predator Wiki
- Outcome
- Sentenced
- Evidence
- Attributed reporting
- Jurisdiction
- Sonoma County, California
- Encounter
- Not established
- Decoy posed as
- Boy5
- Case number
- Not established
Personal details
- Born
- April 13, 1963
- Occupation
- Truck driver
- Warehouse worker
- Handyperson
- Marital status
- Single
- Height
- 5′9″
- Weight
- 150 lb
- Eyes
- Blue
Charges & sentence
Charges awaiting verification
We have not established filed charges from the available evidence. This is a gap in our research, not a finding about this case.
Sentence
Resentenced to 180 days in jail after an original 90-day term and unsuccessful work-release/community-service arrangements. The original order also included three years of probation, lifetime registration, treatment and restrictions.
Attributed to the sources below. Consult the original record for full terms.
Case records
Hansen investigationSonoma County, California · Sentenced
Sentence
Resentenced to 180 days in jail after an original 90-day term and unsuccessful work-release/community-service arrangements. The original order also included three years of probation, lifetime registration, treatment and restrictions.7
- Prison: 180 days7
- Probation: 3 years7
- Registration: Life7
- Other condition: 1 yearInternet-access restriction in original order7
- Other condition: Term not establishedOriginal conditions: sex-offender counseling, no contact with minors, no computer ownership or possession, and disclosure of passwords to probation officer.7
Reviewed sting-related legal outcome. Treat180days as the replacement custodial term, not an additional term added to90days. Keep original order history in notes; no date or change to original supervision conditions inferred.
Sources 7
Case narrative
Biography
Forty-three-year-old Steven Cartlidge was a former warehouse worker and truck driver, although he was unemployed at the time of the sting. He was also a part time snake wrangler, as a hobby.
Sting
When Steven arrived at the sting house, he struck up a conversation with the decoy . Bizarrely, Steve sent a video of two children playing at the park that Perverted Justice used as a fake video they would send to predators claiming that it was them when they were younger. It is unknown if he downloaded the video or if he had a prior interaction with Perverted Justice that resulted in him saving the video for his own use
When Chris Hansen confronted Steven at the sting house, he became immediately suspicious, believing Chris to have cameras watching him at that very moment. He said he was simply going to talk and accused the decoy of initiating the sexual conversation when confronted over the sexual discussions he had with the child, although he admitted it was chatter inappropriate. He also insisted that he didn't know the boy was thirteen but said only he was to blame for his own actions. When Steven feared that Chris was a police officer or detective, Chris revealed that he had walked into a Dateline investigation. Steven is later arrested in the garage as he made his way out.
Aftermath
Steven persisted in saying that he didn't believe the boy was thirteen and that the decoy initiated the sexual conversation during his police interview. He did acknowledge bringing beer to the officer. Steven initially convinced the copurt to allow him to serve his term on work release, but he couldn't find a job as a recently released sex offender, so he instead asked for community service. When he couldn't complete that either, he wound up being re-sentenced to 180 days in jail, which he served.
Trivia
Chris would mock Steven’s southern accent, something he would repeatedly do with other predators with a similar accent.
Community-written, from the To Catch a Predator Wiki. Not independently verified, and it does not establish charges or court outcomes.
Steven Cartlidge, To Catch a Predator Wiki contributors; see revision and history links. · CC-BY-SA
Media
Sources
- 1Steven Cartlidge on MegaphonePublic episode metadata matches the publisher RSS recording by title, release date and exact enclosure identifier. Reviewed publisher title/description names this profile as the subject of the recording.
- 2Steven Cartlidge on SpotifyPublic episode metadata matches the publisher RSS recording by title, release date and exact enclosure identifier. Reviewed publisher title/description names this profile as the subject of the recording.
- 3Steven Cartlidge on Apple PodcastsPublic episode metadata matches the publisher RSS recording by title, release date and exact enclosure identifier. Reviewed publisher title/description names this profile as the subject of the recording.
- 4Steven Cartlidge official podcast episodeThe October21,2024 episode explicitly identifies Cartlidge arriving in the Petaluma encounter, talking with Hansen and being arrested afterward.
- 5Steven Cartlidge (community wiki)Attributed community article. Revision date describes the article update, not a court or sting event. Full infobox, narrative sections, references and assets are retained in the private archive.
- 6Steven Cartlidge: occupation informationThe profile infobox lists these occupations. Undated roles do not establish current employment.
- 7Steven Cartlidge: legal outcome (revision 13667)Resentenced to 180 days in jail after an original 90-day term and unsuccessful work-release/community-service arrangements. The original order also included three years of probation, lifetime registration, treatment and restrictions.