A Niles resident was sentenced on July 28 to 14 years in federal prison after admitting to downloading and sharing thousands of files containing child sexual abuse material. Daniel Scharmer, age 50, received the sentence from U.S. District Judge Benita Y. Pearson following his guilty plea in April to charges of receipt and distribution of visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct and possession of child pornography.
Scharmer was also ordered to serve ten years of supervised release upon completion of his prison term, pay $71,500 in restitution to victims, and contribute $10,000 toward the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act. According to court documents and evidence presented during sentencing, law enforcement identified Scharmer as an active participant in criminal activities involving child sexual abuse material in June 2024. Authorities executed a search warrant at his residence and seized multiple electronic devices including desktop computers, hard disk drives, portable hard drives, and laptops.
Investigators determined that between October 13, 2022, and January 9, 2025, Scharmer received or distributed more than 32,000 files containing illegal content. Over 11,000 files involved sadism or masochism with videos depicting children engaged in sex acts or being abused by adults. In October 2024, investigators identified him as one of the top three downloaders of such material within Ohio.
Scharmer had previously been convicted at the state level for similar offenses in Trumbull County in 2019: Pandering Sexually Oriented Matter Involving a Minor and Illegal Use of a Minor in a Nudity-Oriented Material or Performance.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI Youngstown Resident Agency along with the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force, Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, and Niles Police Department. The prosecution was led by Assistant United States Attorney Margaret A. Kane for the Northern District of Ohio.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood—a nationwide initiative led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices across the country aimed at combating child sexual exploitation through coordinated efforts among federal, state, and local agencies to locate offenders online as well as identify victims. The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio serves as chief federal law enforcement officer across forty northern counties; it promotes community safety through outreach programs with schools and law enforcement partners while enforcing federal criminal laws related to national security, according to its official website.