BishopAccountability.org
	New Local: Former Minister Pleads Guilty to Sex Charges New Castle News January 26, 2008 http://www.ncnewsonline.com/local/local_story_026005257.html A former Lawrence County minister has pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual abuse of children by possessing child pornography. Robert D. Schmidtberger, former pastor of Rose Point Reformed Presbyterian Church for 12 years, could face a jail term of 12 months less two days, to 24 months less four days, followed by 15 years of probation. Under Megan's Law, he also will be required to register his address with the state police. Also under Megan's Law, Lawrence County Common Pleas Judge Thomas M. Piccione ordered Schmidtberger to be evaluated by the Sexual Offender's Board of Assessment to determine if he is a sexually violent predator. The plea, accepted Tuesday by Piccione, was negotiated between assistant district attorney Kate Fee-Baird and Thomas W. Leslie, who is Schmidtberger's lawyer. Schmidtberger originally faced 192 charges, one for each image of child pornography. His sentencing will be at a later date. His charges stem from a March 12, 2005, routine review of e-mails by America Online. At that time, the Internet service provider detected that three e-mails assigned to subscriber "shysmilesviix" contained child pornography. AOL reported them to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which in turn contacted the state police. Subsequently, police learned that the screen name was registered to Schmidtberger's account. The address provided was the Rose Point Church's former address â€" RD 4 Box 490 RPC â€" and Schmidtberger was identified as pastor of the church on two Web pages relating to the church. Police searched Schmidtberger's home and seized computers, media, CD Roms, zip discs and hardware devices. Investigators of the state police computer unit said 15 of the CD Roms contained 181 images of child pornography.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.