BISMARCK - U.S. Attorney Timothy Q. Purdon announced that on April 26, 2013, Robert Schmaltz, 36, Bismarck, N.D., pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to a charge of receipt of materials involving the sexual exploitation of minors.
In a plea petition filed by Schmaltz, Schmaltz admitted to using the Internet to download and view images of child pornography. During a change of plea hearing, Schmaltz agreed that he was found in receipt of 1,507 videos and over 81,000 still images depicting the sexual exploitation of children.
The charge of receipt of materials involving the sexual exploitation of minors carries a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.
This investigation was initiated by the North Dakota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and was a cooperative effort of Homeland Security Investigations, the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation, and the Bismarck Police Department, with the assistance of the Burleigh County
State’s Attorney’s Office.
Sentencing for Schmaltz has been scheduled for July 15, 2013, in U.S. District Court in Bismarck, N.D., at 3:00 p.m.
This case was brought as a part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Delorme is prosecuting the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
