Ryan Bobby Schnettler, a 34-year-old resident of Benwood, West Virginia, has been sentenced to 120 months in federal prison for possession of child pornography. The sentencing took place in Wheeling, West Virginia.
Court documents and statements revealed that Schnettler was under supervised release for a previous child pornography charge when U.S. Probation officers conducted home inspections. During these inspections, three undocumented phones were discovered. A search of these devices uncovered hundreds of images of child pornography and evidence of conversations with underage females. Schnettler admitted to posing as a 17-year-old on teen chat and kid chat room websites.
Schnettler’s criminal history includes convictions for second-degree sexual assault, failure to register as a sex offender, and possession of child pornography. Following his prison sentence, he will be subject to 10 years of supervised release.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Conklin on behalf of the government. The investigation was carried out by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Probation Office. U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey presided over the proceedings.
