Casper man pleads guilty to multiple child sex abuse/exploitation charges

NOTE: This article contains information related to charges of child sexual abuse.

CASPER, Wyo. — A Casper man pleaded guilty in Natrona County District Court on Friday to seven of nine counts of child sexual abuse and possession and distribution of the same.

Christopher James Schmidt, born 1998, entered the pleas before District Court Judge Joshua Eames.

Depending on the results of the pre-sentence investigation, the penalties outlined in state law, and whether proposed sentences are concurrent or consecutive, Schmidt faces at least 25 years to 55 years imprisonment at a minimum, and up to 147 years imprisonment at a maximum, according to the affidavit accompanying the charges.

Two of the counts are sexual abuse of a minor in the first degree, each of which is punishable by 25 to 50 years imprisonment.

One of the counts of sexual exploitation of children asserts he did “… manufacture, generate, receive, distribute, reproduce, deliver or possess with the intent to deliver, including through digital or electronic means any child pornography ….”; which is punishable by between five and 12 years imprisonment.

Three counts of sexual exploitation of children — possession of child pornography — each are punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment.

Other counts of child sexual abuse were dismissed as part of the plea agreement between Public Defender Kurt Infanger and Chief Deputy District Attorney Blaine Nelson.

The judge is not a party to the plea agreement.

Schmidt is presumed innocent unless proven or pleading guilty.

He is being held on a $250,000 cash-only bond.

The case started on May 7 when the Federal Bureau of Investigation contacted Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation’s computer crimes unit about an anonymous tip. That led to the discovery of five files of child pornography on an account registered to Schmidt.

On May 9, investigators received another tip flagging social media conversations with Schmidt that indicated a victim was at risk in the immediate future. The victim of the sexual abuse charges was an infant, according to the documents.

The investigation revealed subsequent cybertips of child sexual exploitation materials — videos and still images — from June 2022 to May 2024 on the Internet Protocol address related to Schmidt. Other evidence included conversations Schmidt had with others interested in child sexual abuse materials.

Schmidt was arrested on May 13 by Casper police and Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation agents assigned to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

A sentencing date has not been set.