Hyde Park, New York – On Wednesday, June 14, 2023, the Bureau of Criminal Investigation at SP Rhinebeck, with the assistance of the Troop K Computer Crimes Unit and Forensic Identification Unit, arrested Ross E. Schultz, age 20, of Staatsburg, New York, for Possessing an Obscene Sexual Performance by a Child – a class E felony.

On Thursday, November 3, 2022, SP Rhinebeck Investigators began an Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) investigation after they received a cyber tip from an online social media platform that the suspect, later identified as Schultz, was in possession of a media file containing child pornography. The investigation into the incident led investigators to execute a search warrant at Schultz’s residence, where they seized numerous electronic and storage devices. Schultz, a former substitute daycare worker, was arrested after he was found to be in possession of child pornography.

Schultz was processed at SP Rhinebeck and issued an appearance ticket for Possessing an Obscene Sexual Performance by a Child returnable to the Town of Hyde Park Court on June 22, 2023 at 5:30 p.m.

The mission of the ICAC Task Force is to identify individuals online who are attempting to lure children to meet for sex or those disseminating child sexual abuse material. The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program (ICAC program) helps state and local law enforcement agencies develop an effective response to technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation and Internet crimes against children.