Distribution of child and animal pornography
Pennsauken, NJ (US)

Incident Date: Sunday, Jul 1, 2007
County: Camden

Charges: Felony Non-CTA
Disposition: Convicted

Defendant/Suspect: John E. Schenberger, Jr.

Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

Moments before John Schenberger Jr. was arrested on child pornography charges earlier this week, he sat at a desk inside the Pennsauken police department, waiting for a computer screening to begin showing a sexual assault on a 5- or 6-year-old child, a federal prosecutor said Friday.

Strongly opposing a defense request to release Schenberger on bail while plea negotiations are under way in the case, Assistant Camden County Prosecutor Howard Wiener said Schenberger had included photos of himself in images he transmitted over the Internet. Four of those photos showed his genitalia, said Wiener.

In a two-count indictment returned in U.S. District Court in the Western District of Tennessee on Tuesday, Schenberger is charged with distributing 1,072 images determined to be child pornography. Some of the images portrayed adults and children involved in bestiality and bondage, Wiener said.

The arrest followed an investigation, headed by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency in Memphis, Tenn., targeting crimes against children.

The large number of images raises the potential sentence for Schenberger, if he pleads guilty or is convicted at trial, from five years in federal prison to almost 12 years, Wiener told U.S. Magistrate Judge Joel Schneider.

Details of how the investigation focused on Schenberger are under seal.

Defense attorney Timothy J.P. Quinlan had asked that Schneider release Schenberger on bail, to be monitored by his father, a retired Delaware River Port Authority police officer, and occasionally by his brother, James Schenberger, also a Pennsauken police officer.

Schneider said the defendant's 16-year career history made the pending charge against him more serious.

"He took an oath to uphold the law and protect the public. He's not trustworthy," Schneider said.

Schneider said he also was concerned that Schenberger's computer knowledge and police experience would give him the ability to change his identity and evade capture if he chose to flee.

Schenberger remains at the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia.

Case Updates

References

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