Former Jefferson City corrections officer, wife sentenced in federal child porn case
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
A former officer at the Jefferson City Correctional Center and his wife were sentenced in separate appearances on Monday for recording a sexual assault of an unconscious 4-year-old, according to a press release from the Department of Justice.
Paul Emerson Schofield, 35, and his wife, Sara Ellen Schofield, 31, both of Jefferson City, had pleaded guilty in November to one count of conspiracy to produce child pornography and one count of producing child pornography. Paul Schofield was sentenced on Monday to 40 years in federal prison, while Sara Schofield was sentenced to 35 years in prison, the release states.
They are also ordered to spend the rest of their lives on supervised released after their sentences are served, the release states. 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.
