Images Involved Minors Younger than Six Years Old
BOISE - Jason Lloyd Schaber, 40, of Boise, Idaho, pleaded guilty today in federal court to a superseding information charging him with one count of sexual exploitation of children and one count of distributing sexually explicit images of a minor between 2010 and 2012, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced.
According to the plea agreement, the investigation into Schaber's activities began in April 2012, after Boise police were contacted by a person who saw a Craigslist advertisement offering a young child for sex. Investigators worked with Craigslist and Google to trace the ad to Schaber in mid-May, according to reports, and on May 31, 2012, Boise police investigators executed a search warrant at Schaber's home. Schaber was arrested at that time and has been in custody since.
The plea agreement states that Schaber produced 26 sexually explicit images and videos of female minor(s) who were less than six years of age, and that he distributed child pornography he had produced himself or that he had obtained from the Internet, via email to at least 16 other individuals. The images and videos depicted actual and simulated intercourse, oral sex, and the lascivious exhibition of the genitals and pubic area of the minors, according to the plea agreement. According to the plea agreement, Schaber will forfeit assets directly traceable to the offense or used in the commission of the offense, including computers, hard drives, video cameras and storage media.
The charge of sexual exploitation of children by producing child pornography is punishable by not less than 15 years and not more than 30 years in prison. The charge of distribution of child pornography is punishable by not less than five years and not more than 20 years in prison. Each count is punishable by a minimum term of five years up to lifetime supervised release, and a maximum fine of $250,000.
Sentencing is set for Aug. 13, 2013, before U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge at the federal courthouse in Boise.
Members of the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigated the case, including investigators from the Boise Police Department, the Ada County Sheriff's Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Technical assistance was provided by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the High Technology Investigative Unit at the U.S. Department of Justice, Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section in Washington, D.C., in cooperation with the Ada County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.
This case was brought as 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 the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources." For more information about registered sex offenders in Idaho, visit www.isp.idaho.gov/sor_id/.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
