A South Carolina man has pleaded guilty in federal court to sexually exploiting two young children while residing in Reston, Virginia.
Christopher George Schoenmann, 43, of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, admitted to creating and distributing sexually explicit images of two minor victims, identified as MV1 and MV2, between July 2019 and July 2022.
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According to court documents, Schoenmann exchanged these images with a man in Minnesota, receiving in return sexually explicit images of the Minnesota man’s minor children. The two men used WhatsApp to communicate and share their sexual interest in young girls.
Schoenmann created at least eight sexually explicit images of MV1, who was between six and eight years old at the time, and at least eight sexually explicit images of MV2, who was between less than a year old and two years old. He then distributed these images to the Minnesota man.
Furthermore, Schoenmann stored over 1,400 images and videos depicting child sexual abuse on four electronic devices, including approximately 39 images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of infants and toddlers.
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Schoenmann is scheduled to be sentenced on June 24th. He faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years and up to 30 years in prison. A federal judge will determine the final sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Erik S. Siebert, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Christopher Heck, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (ICE HSI) Washington, D.C., announced the plea after U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema accepted it. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alessandra Serano and Lauren Halper are prosecuting the case.
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