Steven Powell has his say before being sentenced

TACOMA, Wash. — Steven Powell nodded and waved at a KIRO 7 camera while he waited to hear his sentence on child porn charges.

A few minutes later, he read a rambling, eight-minute-long statement, blaming his conviction on the investigation into his son Josh and the disappearance of Josh's wife, Susan Cox Powell.

“The next step for these amateurish investigators from the FBI, et al, was to find a pretext to attack me because Josh Powell and his sons were living with me,” Powell said as he stood dressed in gray jail clothing.

The 65-year-old Powell was convicted of repeatedly taking pictures and videos of two girls, ages 8 and 10, from the bedroom window of his South Hill home as they used a family bathroom next door.

Those charges had been dismissed,  then reinstated by the state appeals court. Powell was convicted on 14 counts of voyeurism for taking the images in 2012.

In his statement, Powell never apologized for the crimes,  instead defending his son Josh, who killed himself and his sons Charlie and Braden in a fiery explosion in February 2012.

“Josh Powell lived for his sons,” Powell said. “He was an innocent man up to the last day of his life."

Josh Powell was considered a suspect in the disappearance of his wife, Susan, who vanished in West Valley City, Utah, in December, 2009.

Frank Cuthbertson sentenced Powell to the longest allowable prison term, five years, criticizing him for using his sentencing as a forum for his complaints.

“Because you are so narcissistic that you indulged your own pleasures at the expense of your neighbors and their children,” Cuthbertson told Powell.

Powell will get credit for about 17 months spent in jail awaiting trial.

KIRO