Former Jail Corrections Officer, Wife Sentenced for Producing Child Pornography

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A former corrections officer at the Jefferson City Correctional Center and his wife were sentenced in federal court today to charges related to video recording their sexual assault of a 4-year-old victim.

Paul Emerson Schofield, 35, and his wife, Sara Ellen Schofield, 31, both of Jefferson City, were sentenced in separate appearances before U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes. Paul Schofield was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison without parole. Sara Schofield was sentenced to 35 years in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced the Schofields to spend the rest of their lives on supervised release following incarceration.

On Nov. 7, 2023, the Schofields each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to produce child pornography and one count of producing child pornography. The Schofields, who have been in federal custody without bond since their arrests in 2022, admitted they participated in a conspiracy to produce child pornography over a nearly three-year period from July 29, 2019, to June 7, 2022. A 4-year-old victim was used to produce child pornography.

The investigation began when law enforcement received a CyberTip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on April 25, 2022. Kik, a free online social media platform, reported that a user later identified as Paul Schofield had uploaded multiple videos of child sexual exploitation material.

Paul Schofield was active in the child pornography trading community. Multiple Kik chats were located in which he was distributing and receiving child pornography and discussing child molestation.

Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at the Schofields’ residence on June 7, 2022. A forensic examiner conducted a preview of Paul Schofield’s cell phone and located several videos of child pornography, including infants engaged in sexual contact with adults. Examiners later found videos on the phone of both Paul and Sara Schofield sexually assaulting an unconscious 4-year-old victim.

On June 9, 2022, law enforcement officers executed another search warrant at the Schofields’ residence. Officers seized Sara Schofield’s cell phone, which contained another sexually explicit video of the same 4-year-old victim in which the voices of Paul and Sara Schofield can be heard.

At the time of the offense, Paul Schofield was employed as a corrections officer at the Jefferson City Correctional Center in Jefferson City.

The Schofields will be required to register as a sex offenders upon their release from prison and will be subject to federal and state sex offender registration requirements, which may apply throughout their life.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley Turner. It was investigated by the Boone County, Mo., Sheriff’s Office Cyber Crimes Task Force and the FBI.

Project Safe Childhood

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc . For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."