Canadian Man Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison for Traveling to Have Sex with an 11-Year-Old Girl
Defendant Caught by FBI and Alpharetta Police Undercover Operation
BRIAN SCHUMAKER, 54, of Mississagua, Ontario, Canada, was sentenced late Monday to federal prison for traveling to Atlanta to have sex with a 11-year-old girl, attempting to entice a child to engage in sexual activity, and possession of child pornography.
United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said, "This is a particularly disturbing case of a father of five girls who traveled to Georgia from Canada intending to sexually exploit an 11-year-old girl. When he arrived in our community, instead of meeting an 11-year old girl, he was greeted by law enforcement officers. This prison sentence ensures that he will now be kept away from any other potential victims for many years to come."
United States District Court Judge James L. Graham, visiting from the Southern District of Ohio, sentenced SCHUMAKER to 30 years in prison, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release. SCHUMAKER will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from custody. SCHUMAKER was arrested in August 2007 and was found guilty after a jury trial in April 2011.
According to United States Attorney Yates and the evidence in court: From July 3, 2007 until August 3, 2007, SCHUMAKER used the Internet to try to arrange a meeting with a child under the age of 12 for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity. During the week of July 31, 2007, SCHUMAKER traveled by car from Ontario, Canada to Atlanta to meet the child and attend a business conference at the Georgia World Congress Center. After SCHUMAKER's arrest, law enforcement recovered a gift that he had purchased for the 11-year-old girl and child pornography from his laptop computer and Palm device depicting the sexual abuse, rape, and molestation of very young children.
There was no actual child in this case. Instead, the online chats were part of a joint law enforcement undercover operation. SCHUMAKER communicated on the Internet with an undercover task force officer from the Alpharetta (Georgia) Police Department who was posing as an 11-year-old girl and her "mother." Evidence introduced at trial showed that defendant boasted during chat sessions about having sex with girls as young as 12 years old in Canada.
This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, the Attorney General launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney's Offices around the country, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
This case was investigated by task force agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and officers with the Alpharetta Police Department.
Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey A. Brown prosecuted the case.
For further information, please contact Sally Q. Yates, United States Attorney, or Charysse L. Alexander, Executive Assistant United States Attorney, through Patrick Crosby, Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Attorney's Office, at (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the HomePage for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.justice.gov/usao/gan.