St. Charles County Man Admits Possessing Child Pornography

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Charles County on Friday admitted possessing and sharing child pornography online.

James Schoggins, 41, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel to one felony count of possession of child pornography.

Schoggins admitted possessing videos and images on his laptop computer of a teenage girl, dating back to when she was 13 or 14. Schoggins told the minor what type of images and videos to send to him and engaged in sexual communications with her, his plea says.

He also possessed 421 other videos and 148 images of child pornography.

Schoggins sent child pornography via Kik Messenger and recommended a way to share child sexual abuse material. Claiming to be a 17-year-old male, Schoggins communicated via WhatsApp with someone claiming to be 16 and exchanged nude pictures with her.

After Schoggins accessed multiple images containing child pornography on his Snapchat account, Snapchat reported him to the National center for Missing and Exploited Children, triggering an investigation by law enforcement.

Schoggins is scheduled to be sentenced February 3. He could face up to 20 years in prison.

The case was investigated by the St. Charles County Cybercrime Task Force and the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson is handling the case.   

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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.justice.gov/psc.