Waterbury Man Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison for Downloading Thousands of Child Sex Abuse Images

Leonard C Boyle, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that MICHAEL SCHMEER, 52, of Waterbury, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny in Hartford to 60 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for downloading thousands of child sex abuses images and videos over the internet.

According to court documents and statements made in court, an investigation revealed that an IP address at Schmeer’s residence was being used to download child sex abuse images and videos from a peer-to-peer file sharing network.  On August 12, 2020, investigators conducted a court-authorized search of Schmeer’s residence and seized computer equipment, including multiple external storage devices.  Schmeer, who was present during the search, was arrested on state charges after he admitted to investigators that he downloaded and possessed child pornography.  Analysis of the seized storage devices revealed more than 54,000 images and 5,000 videos depicting the sexual abuse of children.

On August 4, 2021, Schmeer pleaded guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography.

Schmeer, who has released on bond since his federal arrest on April 6, 2021, is required to report to prison on February 18.

This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Connecticut State Police, Watertown Police Department and Waterbury Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan Keefe.

This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.