Jan 16, 2020 When I Became Free

January 16, 2020 WHEN I BECAME FREE Page 9
New York DEA Diversion Investigator Charged
With Attempting To Produce Child Pornography
And Enticing A Minor To Have Sex
Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Dermot Shea,
the Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), Keith A. Bonanno, Special Agent
in Charge of the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (“DOJ OIG”) Cyber Investigations
Office, and Guido Modano, Special Agent in Charge of the DOJ OIG New York Field Office, announced
today the arrest and filing of charges against FREDERICK L. SCHEININ. The Complaint charges that between
October 2019 and January 2020, SCHEININ attempted to produce child pornography and entice a
minor to have sex. SCHEININ was arrested on January 16, 2020 and will be presented on January 17,
2020 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Katharine H. Parker in Manhattan federal court.
U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “As a diversion investigator at the DEA, Frederick Scheinin’s
foremost responsibility was to protect the public from illegally diverted drugs. Instead of fulfilling this
worthy mission, Scheinin allegedly spent months attempting to prey on a 14-year-old boy. This arrest exemplifies
that no one is above the law. Our law enforcement partners will continue to bring all necessary
tools to bear to apprehend individuals who wish to do harm to young children, no matter who they are.”
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said: “I want to commend the U.S. Attorney and our federal partners
who, together with our NYPD investigators, work every day to protect the innocent against such alleged
reprehensible predators. I am proud of the undercover work in this case, which has now led to criminal
charges against a law enforcement officer who allegedly betrayed his sacred oath.”
DOJ OIG Cyber Investigations Office Special Agent in Charge Keith A. Bonanno said: “The OIG and
our law enforcement partners will thoroughly investigate allegations of abuse or exploitation of children by
DOJ employees. Those who are found guilty of this type of criminal behavior will be brought to justice.”
Up until the time of his arrest, SCHEININ was a diversion investigator in the New York Field Office
of the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”). According to the allegations in the Complaint filed in
Manhattan federal court :
Between October 2019 and January 2020, SCHEININ used a multimedia messaging application on his
cellphone to communicate with an undercover law enforcement officer (“UC-1”) who was posing as a 14-
year-old boy. SCHEININ repeatedly sent sexually explicit images and videos to UC-1 in an attempt to
persuade UC-1 to transmit sexually explicit images, photos, and live visual depictions of UC-1 to
SCHEININ. In particular, SCHEININ repeatedly asked UC-1 to transmit images and videos of UC-1’s
penis. The Complaint further alleges that SCHEININ attempted to arrange a meeting with UC-1 at which
SCHEININ planned to have sex with UC-1. Law enforcement arrested SCHEININ yesterday in New York,
New York, at a location where SCHEININ said he would meet UC-1. SCHEININ was in possession of condoms
and lubricant at the time of his arrest.
SCHEININ, 29, of Sunnyside, New York, is charged with one count of attempted production of child
pornography, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum sentence
of 30 years in prison, and one count of attempted enticement of a minor, which carries a mandatory minimum
sentence of 10 years in prison and maximum sentence of life in prison. The maximum potential sentences
in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any
sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.
The charges in the Complaint are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and
until proven guilty.
* * *
Mr. Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of the NYPD and the DOJ OIG New York Field
Office and Cyber Investigations Office.
The prosecution of this case is being handled by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit. Assistant
United States Attorney Nicholas Chiuchiolo is in charge of the prosecution
Former Pastor and Counselor Sentenced to
17 years in Prison for
Sexually Exploiting Children
A former pastor and counselor from Burtchville, Michigan (just outside Port Huron) was sentenced this
week to 17 years in prison for sexually exploiting preteen and teenage girls, announced United States Attorney
Matthew Schneider of the Eastern District of Michigan.
Schneider was joined in the announcement by Special Agent in Charge Steven M. D’Antuono, Federal
Bureau of Investigation, Detroit Division.
Sentenced was Jackie Douglas Woodburn, 64, who was the
Director of the Colonial Woods Christian Counseling Center, a
place he worked for 28 years. In addition to his prison sentence,
Woodburn will serve 5 years of supervised release upon his release
from custody. Judge Paul D. Borman imposed the sentence.
According to court records, Woodburn used an unmonitored
chatroom-based website to target and manipulate girls. Woodburn,
who pretended to be a teenage boy when speaking to preteen
and teenage girls on the website, isolated his victims by
transitioning conversations from the website to email and pop-
Jackie Douglas Woodburn
ular social media application platforms. After isolating the victims,
Woodburn used his sizable age, educational, and life
experience advantages over the girls to manipulate, pressure, coerce, and entice the girls into undressing and
engaging in sexual acts on camera. The Indictment alleged that Woodburn sexually exploited a 12 year-
Boy Scout official sentenced to 30 years of prison
old girl from Texas, a 13 year-old girl from Kansas, and attempted to entice a 9 year-old girl from Virginia.
However, the FBI’s investigation revealed that Woodburn targeted and exploited several additional victims
not identified in the Indictment.
“It’s completely reprehensible for any person — let alone a pastor and counselor — to abuse young children
in this way,” said United States Attorney Matthew Schneider. “We hope this sentencing will bring
some closure to the innocent victims and their families who were so badly harmed by the defendant.”
"By the nature of his position, Mr. Woodburn was entrusted with protecting the mental and spiritual
health of his community," said SAC D'Antuono. "But he was a wolf in sheep's clothing - looking to prey
on the most vulnerable members of our society. Our office remains committed to working with our state and
local partners to find and hold accountable this type of sexual predator."
Assistant United States Attorneys April N. Russo and Kevin M. Mulcahy of the Eastern District of
Michigan, prosecuted the case. The FBI’s Detroit Field Office investigated the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing
epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led
by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources
to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify
and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc.
for Sexually Exploiting Children
Thomas Close, 39, of Shelby, was sentenced earlier this week in federal court to 30 years in prison followed
by lifetime supervised release, which included lifetime sex offender registration obligations. He was
also ordered to pay $949 in restitution and a $300 special assessment.
Close was known to many in the Boy Scouts of America as “Aqua Joe” because he was a swim instructor
as well as a troop leader. And yet, from 2011 through 2018, Close abused these positions to surreptitiously
record young boys while they changed for swimming or showers. He then transferred those
recorded images from a simple spy watch to his home computers in carefully labeled folders and file structures.
Close also victimized children in his care at the YMCA, the Willard Conservation League, the Firelands
Scout Reservation, the Ashland County-West Holmes Career Center, the Mohican Wilderness camp,
the STEM camp, and even his own home in Shelby, Ohio.
“It is difficult to imagine a more heinous crime, particularly when the ages and youthful experiences of
children were so calculatingly exploited,” said U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman. “If we have not made it clear
before, let this sentence send a message to all who seek to prey on our children: there is no place we cannot
find you and we will bring you to justice.”
“This individual used his position and regular access to children to exploit the young people who he was
entrusted to take care of and protect,” said Vance Callender, HSI special agent in charge for Michigan and
Ohio. “While no amount of prison time is sufficient for the depraved abuse of trust by Mr. Close on his innocent
victims, hopefully, today’s sentencing can begin the healing process for all of those impacted.”
Additional details of these crimes were described in court filings and during today’s sentencing hearing:
In May of 2018, the Department of Homeland Security (HSI) Cleveland received information from the
Cyber Crimes Center (C3), Child Exploitation Investigations Unit (CEIU) regarding a child exploitation lead
in Sandusky, OH. C3 provided several videos that were taken of minor boys changing before or after swimming,
with a series of lockers visible in some of the pictures. The National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children (NCMEC) confirmed that these videos were seen in previous child pornography investigations but
the children depicted in the images had not yet been identified. However, the NCMEC Victim Identification
Lab was able to identify the manufacturer of the lockers as the Bradley Corp. Since only a few YMCAs
purchased lockers from Bradley Corp, C3 was able to confirm that the images were likely taken at the
YMCA facility located in Sandusky, OH.
With little to go on, agents set out to identify the boys. They focused on landmarks and the Boy Scout
logo captured in images, which let them to speak with representatives of the Boy Scouts and local YMCAs.
Both the Boy Scouts and local YMCAs assisted agents with their investigation. In speaking with the Boy
Scouts, agents were directed to an incident report in which one den leader noted Close’ frequent and unnecessary
contact with scouts during swim time.
Later, and based on this tip, agents interviewed Close. Close admitted to the following: accessing child
pornography from the TOR network; using a Russian photo sharing site to access child pornography; receiving
and distributing images of child pornography online; being sexually interested in boys as young as
five and up to 18; and possessing approximately 5 terabytes of child pornography. He also acknowledged
leaving a watch with video capability in the designated changing areas in order to record the boys as they
undressed.
Agents conducted a forensic analysis of Close’s devices and confirmed that he had more than 110,000
image and video files that depicted minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Approximately 60,000 of
those files were unique images. Close also created 1,900 images of child pornography. To date, 143 victims
have been identified, with the youngest being seven years old.
One of the identified victims, who is referred to in court filings as Minor #21, provided a recorded victim
impact statement which was played during the sentencing hearing. He stated in pertinent part: Never
have I been so sad. This whole thing lingers in my mind all the time. I wish I could make it go away. . . .
I have a question for you, Aqua Joe: Why? Why would you do this to me? Why would you do this to any
kid? How dare you do this to a kid that can’t defend himself. I don’t understand. I’m supposed to be able
to trust the people that I’m told I can trust. You took advantage of me and you spied on me. Now I don’t
trust anyone. You ruined part of my life! And I hate you. . . . I especially hate you for hurting my mother.
You broke her heart – and mine. . . . I hope someday I can forget about you.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children
Task Force (ICAC) and the Shelby Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carol M.
Skutnik.