Source: Office of United States Attorneys
PENSACOLA, FLORIDA – Charles M. Schmaltz, 28, of Pensacola, Florida, pled guilty in federal court for cyberstalking and sending obscene materials to minor females. The plea was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.
U.S. Attorney Heekin said: “Protecting children from online exploitation and abuse is of paramount importance, and my office will aggressively pursue, prosecute, and seek punishment to the fullest extent of the law for those who prey upon our most innocent, vulnerable populations. My message to offenders is clear: if you prey upon our children, you had better pray we don’t find you.”
Court documents reflect that Schmaltz communicated with multiple minor females between 2022 – 2024 by utilizing ten or more social media accounts to contact them. The minor females, and later their parents, repeatedly requested that Schmaltz cease communicating with them. Instead, Schmaltz sent sexually explicit content to the minor females, including extremely graphic communications about engaging in sexual acts with the minors and images of his own genitals. The minor females in this case ranged in age from 9 – 15 years old. Schmaltz was eventually caught through the work of a multi-agency investigation in North Florida and South Alabama, where some of the victims were located.
Schmaltz faces up to thirty years’ imprisonment, and lifetime supervision upon release.
The case involved a joint investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, and the Dale County Sheriff’s Office as well as Dothan Police Department in South Alabama. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David L. Goldberg.
Sentencing is scheduled for July 17, 2025, at 1:00 pm at the United States Courthouse in Pensacola before United States District Judge T. Kent Wetherell, II.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice and led by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Divisions Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), it marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.