District of Montana

CLAYTON SCHLEPP PLEADS GUILTY IN U.S. FEDERAL COURT

Bill Mercer, United States Attorney for the District of Montana, announced today that during a federal court session in Billings on September 19, 2008, before Chief U.S. District Judge Richard F. Cebull, CLAYTON SCHLEPP, a 31-year-old resident of Miles City, pled guilty to receipt and possession of child pornography. A sentencing date will be set at a later time. He is currently released on special conditions.

In an Offer of Proof filed by the United States, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:

In 2007, SCHLEPP was employed as a restitution officer by the Department of Corrections (DOC), stationed at Pine Hills Youth Correctional Facility (PHYCF) in Miles City. DOC received information from their IT department that SCHLEPP had attempted to access prohibited Internet sites using his DOC computer. SCHLEPP'S computer was not shared and was maintained in his own office space.

DOC examined SCHLEPP'S computer hard drive and found numerous images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The hard drive was subsequently forensically examined and numerous images of child pornography were found. SCHLEPP visited sexually oriented web sites, including various groups that catered to those who had an interest in viewing child pornography. SCHLEPP also used a search engine to find child pornography by using terms such as "incest," "lolita," "LS models," "PTHC" (preteen hardcore), "preteen," "PT model" and "pubescent girls."

The forensic exam found images of children clearly prepubescent and several pictures that involved sadistic or masochistic abuse or other depictions of violence. The images had been accessed during 2005 and 2006 and corresponded to the days that SCHLEPP was working at PHYCF.

SCHLEPP faces possible penalties of a mandatory minimum of 5 years in prison and could be sentenced to 20 years, a $250,000 fine and lifetime supervision.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Marcia K. Hurd prosecuted the case for the United States.

The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Helena Police Department, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation.