| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 5, 2008 WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/CAN |
SAN FRANCISCO – United States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello announced that Jeffrey David Schinkel, of Novato, Calif., was arrested this morning for Possession of Child Pornography.
According to the complaint, Schinkel, 34, is alleged to have communicated with an undercover Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent about child pornography, sent the agent an invitation to join a members-only child pornography Web site, and then viewed the child pornography Web site in violation of federal law which makes it illegal for any person to knowingly access a Web site that contains child pornography with intent to view child pornography. Also according to the complaint, Schinkel is employed by the California Department of Justice as a criminal investigator and the California Department of Justice confirmed that his actions were not taken in connection with any Department of Justice investigation.
“People who download and possess child pornography are truly putting the world’s youth at risk,” said Mark Wollman, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in San Francisco. “We’re talking about images and scenes involving real children who are being sexually abused and exploited in horrific ways. ICE will continue to work closely with its law enforcement partners here and around the world to target those who commit these types of crimes and see they are brought to justice.”
Following his arrest, Schinkel was arraigned this morning before the Honorable Edward M. Chen and entered a plea of not guilty. After a motion to detain Schinkel by the United States, he is currently being held in the custody of the United States Marshal Service. His next appearance is Dec. 9 at 9:30 a.m. before the Honorable Edward M. Chen for a identification of counsel.
The maximum statutory penalty for Possession of Child Pornography in violation of Title 18, United States Code, section § 2252(a)(4)(B) is 10 years, a $250,000 fine, and a term of supervised release of not less than 5 years to a maximum of life. If convicted, Schinkel would be required to register as a sex offender. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.
Denise Marie Barton is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Rosario Calderon. The prosecution is the result of an eight-month investigation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement – San Francisco and Phoenix and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The California Department of Justice Bureau of Investigation and Intelligence cooperated fully and assisted federal authorities in this investigation.
Please note, an indictment contains only allegations against an individual and, as with all defendants, Mr. Schinkel must be presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Further Information:
Case #: 3-08-70839 EMC
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