Grand Jury Hits Seven Hills Man with Child Porn Charges
A Geauga County grand jury recently indicted Eric Arnold Schmidt, 44, of Seven Hills, on felony charges related to child pornography involving a minor in who lives in the county.
A Geauga County grand jury recently indicted Eric Arnold Schmidt, 44, of Seven Hills, on felony charges related to child pornography involving a minor in who lives in the county.
The indictment, filed in the Geauga County Court of Common Pleas March 3, charges Schmidt with three counts of illegal use of a minor in a nudity-oriented material or performance, a second-degree felony, and one count of disseminated matter harmful to juveniles, a fifth-degree felony.
According to a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation, Schmidt — a teacher at South Euclid-Lyndhurst Schools — friended a 16-year-old Geauga County female on an online social media app.
On Jan. 27, Geauga County detectives arrested Schmidt, said Geauga County Sheriff Scott Hildenbrand in a press release.
“Schmidt was taken into custody by the Geauga County Detective Bureau without incident following an investigation into allegations involving inappropriate actions with a minor,” Hildenbrand said in the release. “Due to the nature of the investigation, additional details are currently limited. The public is reminded that criminal charges are allegations and all individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.”
The illegal use of a minor in a nudity-oriented material or performance counts each carry a potential prison sentence of two to eight years and the disseminated matter harmful to juveniles county has a potential prison term of up to 12 months, said Geauga County Prosecutor Jim Flaiz.
Schmidt is set to be arraigned at 8:15 a.m. March 26 in Geauga County Court of Common Pleas.
