FORT PIERCE, Fla.- A 25-year-old Sebring, Fla., man was indicted on child pornography charges following a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) investigation.
Timothy Ryan Schock appeared in federal court in Fort Pierce Friday, June 5, for his arraignment on an indictment charging him with receipt and possession of child pornography before U.S. Magistrate Judge Frank Lynch and was detained without bond. Shock faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison with a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and is subject to a criminal forfeiture.
According to the indictment, the investigation began in April 2009, when ICE special agents in Fort Pierce who were conducting an Internet investigation using peer-to-peer software obtained three video clips depicting what appeared to be minor children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The videos were later identified as being downloaded from Schock's personal computer.
Schock was arrested on federal criminal charges on May 21, 2009, after ICE special agents with the assistance of detectives from the Highlands County Sheriff's Office executed a federal search warrant at the defendant's home and seized his computer, hard drives and media. During a preliminary forensic analysis of Schock's computer, ICE agents observed numerous video clips of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Subsequently, Schock admitted to intentionally downloading the child pornography. He had his initial hearing on May 22 at which he was held without bond.
The ICE investigation and arrest was part of a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ICE initiative known as Operation Predator. Operation Predator protects children from sexual predators, including those who travel across continents to have sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders and child traffickers. Since the initiative was launched in July 2003, there have been more than 11,000 individuals arrested nationwide.
U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta commended the investigative efforts of ICE's Office of Investigations in Fort Pierce and the Highlands County Sheriff's Office in this matter.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Millien.