Walter Harlan "Mike" Echols (April 1, 1944 – January 10, 2003) was an American author who wrote several books, mainly dealing with child sexual abuse.
These include I Know My First Name Is Steven, which chronicles the kidnap of Steven Stayner, and Brother Tony's Boys, which tells the story of Brother Tony Leyva, a Pentecostal revivalist preacher and pederast.
In 1998, Echols created Better a Millstone (BAM), a child-safety advocacy group, that identified and reported pedophiles to authorities.
[3][4] Echols died in 2003 at age 58 in the Monterey County Jail in California from an apparent heart attack.
[5][6] He was in jail for failing to appear in court after being charged with indecent exposure for exposing himself to police, among other misdemeanors.