Brunswick Co. man sentenced to 60 years in prison on child pornography charges

BRUNSWICK COUNTY, N.C. (WECT) - A man from Saint James pled was sentenced to 60 years in prison and five years of supervised release for charges of possessing and trading child pornography. Agents reportedly found pornographic images of a child he had worked with during his employments in chat with other people online.

Craig Connors Schenck, 39, pled guilty on March 8, 2022 to Receipt of Child Pornography, Distribution of Child Pornography and Possession of Child Pornography. Schenk was also ordered to pay $105,000 in restitution and a special assessment of $15,000.

According to court documents, Google notified the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that a user had uploaded images of child pornography, leading to the State Bureau of Investigation to investigate.

Investigators determined the email address used contained Schenck’s first initial and last name, and the IP address associated with the uploaded illegal material was being leased to Schenck’s parents, where he resided. The cybertip was classified as a priority because it was believed Schenck was employed in a capacity which gave him access to children.

A search warrant was conducted at the residence the same day the tip was received and his digital devices were seized and analyzed. Schenck reportedly admitted that he was given a thumb drive in 2007 that had child pornography on it, he was part of online platforms where child pornography was traded and that he had been employed with various companies who cared for cognitively impaired children.

Nearly 1,500 images and over 600 videos that depicted child sexual abuse material were discovered on his devices during a forensic analysis, as well as a number of chats in various social media platforms where Scheck discussed the sexual abuse of children, traded child pornography images and described graphic sexual fantasies.

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