Man Gets Almost 21 Years for Creating Porn with 3-Month-Old

By FRED SHUSTER
City News Service

An Antelope Valley landscaper facing state child molestation charges was sentenced today to almost 21 years in prison on a federal child pornography count involving a 3-month-old baby.

Robert Dale Schrader, 34, of Littlerock was ordered by U.S. District Judge Gary A. Feess to serve under supervised release for life after he completes his 250-month prison term.

“These are monstrous acts,” the judge said.

In a statement to the court, a weeping Schrader, who is about 7 feet tall, recited the Serenity Prayer and told Feess that a 2002 motorcycle accident left him brain damaged and unable to make “logical decisions.”

“Somewhere along the way, I got hooked on Internet porn,” Schrader told Feess, stating that his quest for “excitement” drove him to seek out “stuff I never dreamed would turn me on.”

The probe targeting Schrader began Jan. 29 after British authorities alerted Homeland Security Investigations’ attache in London that an individual using a Yahoo email account had sent multiple sexually explicit images of an infant to an undercover officer in England.

Data in those images indicated they had been taken near Schrader’s Littlerock home. That same day, Schrader’s home was raided, and the baby depicted in the illegal images was found.

The baby boy -- who is related to the defendant -- was turned over to the county Department of Children and Family Services.

Defense attorney Charles Brown, arguing for a 15-year sentence, told the court that brain damage from the motorcycle accident had caused Schrader’s interest in sexual activity with children.

Feess responded that such an argument suggests that Schrader’s compulsion cannot be controlled, “and any child is a potential victim.”

Feess also pointed out that no medical evidence had been presented to bolster the defense theory.

At a previous hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joey L. Blanch told the judge that a 12-year-old girl and a third child were also molested by Schrader.

The children, according to court papers, belonged to Schrader’s ex- girlfriend, who was addicted to methamphetamine. All three victims are now in foster care, Blanch said.

During a search of Schrader’s home, authorities seized additional evidence linked to the case, including children’s clothing and computer equipment.

Schrader is charged in state court with 28 child sex counts involving the infant and a young girl, authorities said. He has not been arraigned in that case.

PHOTO Patch file photo.