DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Acting United States Attorney Edward R. Ryan
Western District of North Carolina

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2009

CONTACT: Suellen Pierce
704.344.6222
Fax: 704.227.0264

STEWARD SCHER SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS IN PRISON Mecklenburg County Resident Pled Guilty to Four Criminal Counts of Possession, Distribution and Transportation of Child Pornography Charlotte, NC—Steward Scher, 62, of Charlotte was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Charlotte on Wednesday to 180 months in federal prison, Acting U.S. Attorney Edward R. Ryan announced today.

Joining Ryan in today’s announcement is Owen D. Harris, Special Agent in Charge of Federal Bureau of Investigation Operations in North Carolina, and Chief Rodney Monroe of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. Steward Scher is presently in local federal custody where he has remained since June 2008. Scher will remain in local federal custody until the Federal Bureau of Prisons designates a facility at which he will serve his term of imprisonment. The facility at which he will serve his term of imprisonment has not yet been determined.

Following a brief local investigation by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department and the FBI, Scher was indicted federally in May 2008 on four criminal counts. After having entered a guilty plea, as charged, to one count alleging possession of child pornography, one count alleging transportation and shipment of child pornography, and two counts alleging distribution of child pornography, Scher faced a maximum imprisonment exposure of 20 years.

At Wednesday’s sentencing hearing, Judge Robert J. Conrad, Jr., Chief U.S. District Judge for the Western District of North Carolina, also ordered that Scher’s term of imprisonment be followed by a lifetime term of supervised release and that he must register as a sex offender.

The case arose out of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.projectsafechildhood.gov .

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cortney Escaravage of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte.

US v. STEWARD SCHER Steward Scher, 62 years of age
DOCKET NO. 3:08cr109 Charlotte, NC