The victims, ages 13 through 17, told investigators they believed they were talking with a teenage boy named Ben, who was actually Kenneth L. Schmidt hiding behind fake profiles. — Photo by Jay Wennington on Unsplash
A Lancaster County man who was sentenced to 35 years in federal prison for child pornography earlier this year received an additional sentence from the state this week after he used fake online profiles to solicit nude images and videos from children that he would later share online, according to the county district attorney’s office.
The victims, ages 13 through 17, told investigators they believed they were talking with a teenage boy named Ben, who was actually Kenneth L. Schmidt hiding behind fake profiles.
Schmidt, 46, of East Earl Township, admitted to creating fake Instagram profiles to trick minors into sending him nude pictures and videos to grow his “huge” collection of child pornography.
Schmidt told investigators his child pornography collection was so large he “could scroll through them for the rest of my life and never look at the same image twice.”
In April, Schmidt was sentenced to 35 years in federal prison for his involvement with child pornography and speaking with minors online. He pleaded guilty to 49 felony charges in the state’s prosecution, the DA’s office said.
A Lancaster County judge told Schmidt “you deserve every second,” of the additional sentence, which will run concurrently to the 35-year federal sentence.
Federal investigators had been watching Schmidt since 2018, the DA’s office said. Investigators in Lancaster County became aware of Schmidt in 2020 after a cyber tip connected his IP address to a restaurant in Sadsbury Township where he worked and shared images of child pornography online in March of that year.
He was first charged locally with eight child pornography offences in 2020 before 80 more offences were added in 2021.
Schmidt pleaded guilty to 49 of those offences this week, including possession of child pornography, dissemination of photographs or film of child sex acts, criminal solicitation of photographs or film of child sex acts, disseminating explicit sexual material of a minor, contact or communication with a minor, corruption of minors, identity theft and criminal use of a communication facility.
In August 2022, while the state’s prosecution was still ongoing, the US Attorney’s office for Pennsylvania’s Eastern District indicted Schmidt on 18 charges stemming from his child pornography collection and inappropriate communication with minors. He started his 35-year federal sentence in April.
A search of Schmidt’s home revealed hundreds of pornographic pictures and videos of minors on his cell phone and computer, the press release said.
Additionally, digital forensic teams found at least 30 videos of nude children and 76 videos of children engaging in sexual contact, according to the DA’s office.
The real teenage boy whose pictures were used on Schmidt’s fake profiles told investigators he was unaware of the situation.
Schmidt’s attorney told the court his client is remorseful and hopes to take advantage of rehabilitation programs in the state and federal prison systems. Schmidt did not speak in court when given the opportunity. – pennlive.com/Tribune News Service
