Orlando Man Sentenced to More Than 17 Years for Distribution of Child Pornography

ORLANDO, FL—U.S. Attorney Robert E. O'Neill announces that Chief U.S. District Judge Anne C. Conway today sentenced Brandon Schill (24, Orlando) to 210 months in federal prison for distribution of child pornography, followed by a life term of supervised release. The court also ordered Schill to forfeit his computer storage devices, which he used to commit the offense.

Schill previously pleaded guilty on December 22, 2010.

According to court documents, on July 27, 2010, Schill distributed 204 images of child pornography to a law enforcement officer using a peer-to-peer file-sharing program that enables users to create private networks for sharing digital files. On August 13, 2010, agents executed a search warrant at Schill's home and seized his laptop computer and an external hard drive, which contained child pornography. When agents examined Schill's computer storage devices, they found over 10,000 pictures and 450 videos depicting the rape, sexual torture, and sexual exploitation of prepubescent children and infants. In addition, agents located many chats and text documents on Schill's storage devices, which were about the sexual assault and exploitation of children.

During the interview with agents, Schill admitted that he had been collecting child pornography for the last four years. Schill also stated that he had previous sexual contact with a minor and that he had exposed another minor to child pornography by directing the minor to websites and file-sharing programs to obtain child pornography.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Karen L. Gable.

The 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 (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.