New sex charge brought against neo-Nazi leader

Neo-Nazi leader Kevin Alfred Strom, arrested last January on charges of possession of child pornography and witness tampering, now faces a key additional accusation — that he "enticed" a 10-year-old girl to engage in sexual activity.

The new charge came in an April federal grand jury indictment that also formalized the other felony charges faced by the founder of National Vanguard, a neo-Nazi group that collapsed after Strom's arrest). In addition to the "coercion and enticement" charge, they include four counts of receipt of child pornography (via a computer); one count of possession of child pornography; and one count of obstructing justice by assaulting or threatening a witness.

It wasn't clear from the indictment what Strom is accused of with regard to the young girl, and officials have not publicly detailed their allegations. The charge says only that Strom enticed or attempted to entice or coerce the girl. In a widely circulated E-mail, meanwhile, Strom pleads for money for his jail "canteen fund," complains that he's being kept in solitary confinement, and asserts that he is "not guilty of the charges against me" — even though Strom apparently signed a notarized "contract" with his wife Elisha last year in which he promised to attend counseling until he "has been declared free of pedophilia." Elisha Strom posted a copy of the document on a neo-Nazi site after her husband's arrest.

Kevin Strom also allegedly said in his February E-mail that he had written "a long and detailed account of the spousal betrayal which has resulted in my current situation," but added that his lawyers had advised him not to circulate it. Elisha Strom has hotly denied that she had anything to do with Strom's arrest.

Strom, who long kept a collection of cheesecake photos of young girls on his website under the heading of "feminine beauty," ended his E-mail on an upbeat note. "I remain," he said, "dedicated to the cause of life and the ennoblement of man."

SPLC