Menasha man gets 25 years for possessing video of sexually abused toddler
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A Menasha man will spend more than two decades behind bars after he produced a video that showed him sexually assaulting a 15-month-old baby.
John D. Schaefer, 35, pleaded guilty in August to producing child pornography and distributing it, online court records show.
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He was sentenced on Tuesday to 25 years in prison. Senior U.S. District Judge William C. Griesbach also ordered Schaefer to serve a lifetime on supervised release after prison and to register as a sex offender.
Schaefer's roommate contacted authorities in November 2022 when he was shown a video produced by Schaefer depicting the sexual abuse of a child, Gregory J. Haanstad, the U.S. Attorney for Wisconsin's Eastern District, said in a statement. The child is believed to have been about 15 months old at the time, and that the sexual assault occurred when he babysat the child.
A search of Schaefer's home, conducted as part of an investigation by police, turned up electronic items that contained the video and more than 2.2 terabytes of child sexual abuse material, Haanstad said.
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At sentencing, Griesbach described Schaefer's actions as "horrific," noting the potential for long-term mental health effects his actions had on his victim and on the children depicted in the more 156,000 images and videos that were uncovered.
The charge stemmed from an investigation that was part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative that helps find, apprehend and prosecute people who exploit children on the internet.
The initiative was launched in May 2006 by the U.S. Department of Justice and also works to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, as well as to identify and rescue victims.
The Menasha Police Department, the Wisconsin Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigation and the Oshkosh Police Department investigated the case together. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel R. Humble.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Menasha man gets 25 years for video of sexually abused toddler
