Visalia Man Pleads Guilty to Production of Child Pornography

FRESNO, CA—United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Terry Lee Schneider II, 28, of Visalia, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Fresno to producing child pornography.

According to the plea agreement, in September 2005, Schneider produced a video that depicted a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. He was charged with producing child pornography in a superseding indictment on October 7, 2010 and has been detained in custody since September 29, 2010.

Schneider is scheduled to be sentenced by United States District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill on December 16, 2011. He faces a maximum term of 30 years in prison. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory sentencing factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

This case is the result of an extensive investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Visalia Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Brian W. Enos prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC mobilizes federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov or call the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California and ask to speak with the PSC coordinator.