Canadian Sentenced to 30 Years in Federal Prison in Child Sex Case

An Ontario, Canada man was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison on Monday, Aug. 1 for traveling to Atlanta to have sex with an 11-year-old girl, attempting to entice a child to engage in sexual activity, and possession of child pornography.

United States District Court Judge James L. Graham, visiting from the Southern District of Ohio, sentenced Brian Schumaker, 54, of Mississagua, Ontario, Canada, according to Patrick Crosby, public affairs officer for the U.S. Attorney's Office of Northern Georgia.

The case was investigated by agents with the FBI and the as part of Project Safe Childhood, according to Crosby's news release.

U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said, “This is a particularly disturbing case of a father of five girls who traveled to Georgia from Canada intending to sexually exploit an 11-year-old girl. When he arrived in our community, instead of meeting an 11-year old girl, he was greeted by law enforcement officers. This prison sentence ensures that he will now be kept away from any other potential victims for many years to come.”

Director Gary George of the Alpharetta Department of Public Safety says “this case exemplifies why we have working partnerships between local, state and federal agencies."

He said in this particular case, his department had a detective assigned to the FBI’s innocent images task force.

"Our detective worked long hours in joint cooperation with the FBI to develop the necessary evidence needed to bring this child predator to justice. I commend the FBI, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our detective for their outstanding work,” George said.

Schumaker will be under 10 years of supervised release after the 30-year sentence. He will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from custody. Schumarker was arrested in August 2007 and was found guilty after a jury trial in April 2011.

According to Yates and the evidence in court: From July 3, 2007 until Aug. 3, 2007, Schumaker used the Internet to try to arrange a meeting with a child under the age of 12 to engage in sexual activity. During the week of July 31, 2007, he traveled by car from Ontario, Canada to Atlanta to meet the child and attend a business conference at the Georgia World Congress Center. After his arrest, law enforcement recovered a gift that he had purchased for the 11-year-old girl and child pornography from his laptop computer and Palm device depicting the sexual abuse, rape and molestation of very young children. 

There was no actual child in this case.  Instead, the online chats were part of a joint law enforcement undercover operation. Schumarker 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.” Evidence introduced at trial showed that defendant boasted during chat sessions about having sex with girls as young as 12 years old in Canada.

 For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey A. Brown prosecuted the case.