May 20—TOLEDO — A Bluffton man and Lima woman have been charged in federal district court on charges related to online child pornography activities.
Kris Shoemaker, 64, of Bluffton, and Grace Miller, 42, of Lima, were arrested earlier this month by the U.S. Marshals Service after a special agent from the FBI received cyber-tips related to the receipt and distribution of child sexual abuse material.
According to records from the U.S. District Court for Northern Ohio, FBI special agent Caleb E. Williams on March 17 received tips from Yahoo Inc. and Facebook related to the receipt and distribution of child sexual abuse material. One tip led investigators to an approximately 39-second video, which depicts an 8- to 10-year-old female nude from the waist down, touching her genitals and then masturbating. That video was traced to an account linked to Shoemaker.
On May 8, members of the FBI and Allen County Sheriff’s Office executed a federal search warrant for Shoemaker’s residence at 124 W. Jefferson St., Bluffton. Shoemaker was interviewed at the scene, submitted to a polygraph and subsequently admitted to engaging in child pornography activity online. He identified Miller as his current girlfriend and one of the women he distributed child pornography to, according to court documents.
On that same date, Miller was interviewed by detectives from the Allen County Sheriff’s Office. She reportedly admitted to taking pictures of an 8-year-old female’s breasts and genitals and sending them to Shoemaker. She stated she sent the images and videos to Shoemaker via Facebook Messenger. She told investigators she began taking and sending him the images and videos approximately seven months ago, and she took them at her residence in Lima, according to court documents..
Shoemaker’s cell phone was seized during the execution of the search warrant and was found to contain numerous sexual images involving minors.
Shoemaker was arrested on charges of receipt and distribution of child pornography. Miller was taken into custody on a charge of sexual exploitation of a minor related to the production of child pornography. Both Shoemaker and Miller waived their rights to a preliminary hearing in federal court. No further hearings have been scheduled at this time.
Shoemaker was convicted in 1982 of voluntary manslaughter, in 1991 of carrying a concealed weapon and in 1992 of attempted gross sexual imposition involving a 12-year-old female. Shoemaker is no longer required to register as a sex offender, according to court documents.
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