Former Denver prosecutor sentenced to jail after encouraging teen’s marijuana use

A former Denver District Attorney’s Office juvenile prosecutor was sentenced to 60 days in jail after he encouraged a teen boy to smoke marijuana, according to the Arapahoe County District Attorney’s Office.

Daniel James Steinhauser, 29, pleaded guilty to one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a misdemeanor, in July.

Arapahoe County investigators began looking into the case in 2023 after the boy’s parents found texts between Steinhauser and their son talking about smoking marijuana and hiding it, the DA’s office said in a news release Wednesday.

The family had reached out to Steinhauser on the advice of another attorney because their son was having behavior issues and they “hoped their son would be able to witness a juvenile docket and see the potential consequences associated with poor decisions,” according to the news release.

The boy’s parents reported the texts to police, who later found potential “grooming behaviors” in the messages, including Steinhauser asking the boy to meet him without his parents and to delete messages so Steinhauser wouldn’t get into trouble.

Steinhauser and the boy later moved their conversation to Snapchat.

In addition to 60 days in jail, Steinhauser was sentenced to five years probation and is forbidden from contact with anyone under 18 years old.

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