Former Jefferson City corrections officer, wife plead guilty to child pornography charges

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A former officer at the Jefferson City Correctional Center and his wife admitted Tuesday in federal court to recording a video while raping a child.

Paul E. Schofield, 25, and Sara E. Schofield, 30, both of Jefferson City, pleaded guilty in separate appearances to one count of conspiracy to produce child pornography and one count of producing child pornography, the federal prosecutor for the Western District of Missouri said in a news release.

The pair have been in federal custody since July 2022.

The two admitted to being part of a conspiracy to produce child pornography from July 2019 to June 2022 with a child younger than 12, according to the release.

The investigation began in April 2022 when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a tip from the social media platform Kik about Paul Schofield uploading child pornography and discussing child molestation, according to the U.S. attorney's office. The release says Paul Schofield was "active in the child pornography trading community."

A search of the Schofield home in June 2022 turned up several child pornography videos on Paul Schofield's cellphone, including infants, authorities say. Some videos show Paul and Sara Schofield assaulting an unconscious 4-year-old, according to the U.S. attorney.

A video of the same child was found on Sara Schofield's phone, and the couple's voices could be heard in the video, authorities say.

The government will recommend a sentence of between 30 and 40 years in prison without parole. Hearings have not been scheduled.