WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA – Ryan Bobby Schnettler, 34, of Benwood, West Virginia, admitted earlier this week to possessing child pornography, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of West Virginia.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Schnettler was under supervision because of a prior sex offense conviction. At a home visit, officers found undocumented phones and seized them.
Schnettler admitted to going into chat rooms where he pretended to be a 17-year-old male to talk to minors. After Schnettler’s phones were seized, law enforcement obtained a search warrant and searched the phones, locating hundreds of images of child sexual abuse material. The phone also had screenshots of chats with minor females.
Schnettler faces up to 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine the sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Conklin is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Probation Office investigated.
U.S. Magistrate Judge James P. Mazzone presided.
