A person from Southern Illinois was sentenced to 12 years and 7 months in federal prison for moderating a website dedicated to CSAM (child sexual abuse material).
In October 2020, a federal grand jury indicted Sparta resident Kory R. Schulein, 37, on a single count of knowingly obtaining CSAM via the internet.
Prosecutors said that the Randolph County jobless man spent years obtaining, distributing, and storing films and photos of kids being sexually abused.
Schulein was an avid user of other dark websites delivering similar content, according to the indictment, in addition to being a moderator on a CSAM-focused website.
Schulein was originally discovered by law authorities in 2018 during an FBI investigation into CSAM on the dark web. After authorities tracked his IP address, a federal search warrant was executed at this residential location on October 1, 2019.
Officers detected CSAM on Schulein’s laptop computer as well as two external hard drives. According to court records, the unlawful and obscene information was downloaded between 2016 and 2019.
Schulein kept more than 9,000 CSAM pictures and movies on an encrypted hard disc.
The names of some of the children portrayed in the more than 2,500 photos and 100 films seized in Schulein’s possession were validated by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).
Schulein was discovered to have posted 13,733 CSAM-related remarks on dark websites. He posted links to videos and photos of children being sexually assaulted in several of his postings.
The FBI-Springfield conducted the investigation against Schulein in conjunction with the US Marshals Service. The lawsuit against him was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a countrywide programme.
Schulein pled guilty to intentionally obtaining CSAM through the internet on April 29, 2021. He was sentenced to 151 months in jail, or 12 and a half years, earlier today.
When sentencing Schulein, Judge Stephen McGlynn observed that some of the photos and videos he gathered showed children in bonds and people rapping minors, including 5-year-old females and toddlers.
