Arizona man charged after child abuse images found at SFO hotel
A Grand Hyatt employee found child sexual abuse material at SFO, triggering a probe that reached Arizona and led to charges against Steven Davison.
A hotel-room discovery at the Grand Hyatt Hotel at San Francisco International Airport set off a case that moved from SFO to Arizona, exposing thousands of alleged child sexual abuse images and putting a Marana man under criminal charge. What began with a hotel employee finding digital devices left behind in a room quickly became a multi-agency investigation spanning San Francisco, San Mateo County and Pima County.
San Francisco police responded first on Jan. 30, 2026, after the employee found the devices containing child sexual abuse material. Because the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office Airport Bureau leads long-term investigations at SFO, sheriff’s detectives took over the case while San Francisco Police Department officers handled the immediate response at the airport hotel.
Detectives later used video evidence and a search warrant to identify the suspect as 66-year-old Steven Davison of Marana, Arizona. Investigators said they uncovered thousands of child sexual abuse material images, including victims ranging from young children to teenagers. The case then widened in February, when the sheriff’s office notified the Marana Police Department and the two agencies began working together.
That coordination led to another search in May. Marana police obtained a warrant for Davison’s home, and on May 7 a San Mateo County sheriff’s detective assisted in serving it. Investigators said that search uncovered additional evidence tied to the case.
Davison was later arrested and booked into the Pima County Adult Detention Center on multiple Arizona charges, including a San Mateo County charge for violation of Penal Code 311.11(a), possession of child sexual abuse material. The San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office has since filed charges against him, and he remains out of custody on bail in Arizona while awaiting a future court date.
The sheriff’s office thanked the Marana Police Department and the Silicon Valley Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force for helping push the case forward. For San Francisco International Airport, the investigation is a reminder that a routine hotel-room discovery can become the starting point for a far larger criminal case, with airport-area law enforcement, county detectives and outside agencies all forced to move fast.
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