Alpharetta Officers Helped Catch, Convict Canadian In Child Porn, Sex Case

A jury returned a guilty verdict on Monday against a Canadian man for trying to entice a child under the age of 12 to engage in sexual activity, and for possession of child pornography.

Brian Schumaker, 54, of Mississagua, Ontario, Canada, was found guilty by a jury in federal district court.

U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said, “This defendant, who has five daughters himself, came to our community with the intent of sexually exploiting an 11-year-old girl."

After a four-day trial he was convicted on all charges, Yates said in a release by Patrick Crosby of her office.

From July 3, 2007 until Aug. 3, 2007, Schumaker used Internet chats to ry to arrange a meeting with a child under the age of 12. During the week of July 31, 2007, he drove from Ontario to Atlanta to meet the child and attend a business conference at the Georgia World Congress Center.       

After Schumaker's arrest, law enforcement personnel found child pornography on his laptop computer and phone depicting the sexual abuse, rape and molestation of very young children

What Schumaker didn't know in this case that there was no child. Instead, the online chats were part of a joint law enforcement undercover operation.  He communicated on the Internet with an undercover task force officer from the Alpharetta Police Department who was posing as an 11-year-old girl and her “mother.”

On Aug. 3, 2007, Schumaker was arrested by FBI agents and Alpharetta officers at the location where he had arranged to meet the “mother.”

Evidence introduced at trial showed that defendant boasted during chat sessions about having sex with girls as young as 12 years old in Canada. He also expressed his desire to molest his own girls if he could hide the abuse from his wife, U.S. Attorney Yates' release said.

Schumaker could receive a maximum sentence of life in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentencing has not been scheduled.
This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

This case was investigated by agents with the FBI and officers with the Alpharetta Police Department.