Peoria child predator sentenced to 128 years in prison with release date set for August 2154
Stiven Nissan Awshana (ADCRR)
PHOENIX - A Peoria man convicted on a wave of child sex crime charges will spend the rest of his life behind bars after being sentenced and transferred to state prison with a release date set well over a century into the future.
What we know:
Stiven Nissan Awshana, 40, was sentenced on Sept. 18 on 16 total counts — including child molestation, sexual exploitation of a minor and public sexual indecency — before being admitted to the Arizona Department of Corrections on Wednesday. State prison records show Awshana’s projected release date is Aug. 7, 2154 — a whopping 128-year prison sentence that ensures he will never walk free again.
The backstory:
The case originally came to light in late July 2024 when detectives with the Peoria Police Department’s Human Exploitation and Trafficking (H.E.A.T.) Unit were alerted by the Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) taskforce that Awshana was in possession of child sexual abuse material.
Peoria man accused of child sex crimes
A Peoria man accused of committing multiple child sex crimes has been arrested.
On July 28, 2024, Peoria SWAT and detectives executed a search warrant at Awshana’s home, seizing multiple electronic devices containing illicit images and video. Awshana, who was 38 at the time of his arrest, was taken into custody and initially charged with 27 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, four counts of child molestation, three counts of furnishing harmful items to minors and two counts of endangerment.
Dig deeper:
As detectives continued analyzing evidence seized during the probe, the investigation uncovered a second suspect tied to the case. On Aug. 16, 2024, Peoria police arrested 39-year-old Marina Shmaeil Bethyo on 22 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and two counts of child abuse after locating additional child sexual abuse media in her possession. Court records show Bethyo pleaded guilty to one reduced charge of child abuse in 2025 in a plea deal in which the remaining charges were all dismissed. She has since been released from prison.
Marina Shmaeil Bethyo
Case closed:
Awshana is currently serving his sentence at the Arizona Department of Corrections prison complex in Phoenix.
The Source: Information in this report was gathered from the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation & Reentry and the Peoria Police Department.