URI Employee Charged With Child Porn Possession

Release courtesy of the Rhode Island State Police.

Colonel Steven G. O’Donnell, the superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police and Commissioner of Public Safety, announced that at about 8:45 a.m. on Aug. 9, members of the Computer Crimes Unit and the Rhode Island Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce, along with members of the Narragansett and University of Rhode Island police departments, executed a court-authorized search warrant at 16 Carver Lane, Narragansett, and arrested the resident, Daniel P. Schumacher, 64, for Possession of Child Pornography.

In June 2012, the University of Rhode Island began investigating a report that Schumacher, an employee, was using his work computer to view pornography during work hours. 

The URI Digital Forensic Center discovered potential pornographic images of children on Schumacher’s computer and referred the investigation to the Computer Crimes Unit/RIICAC Taskforce.  A forensic examination of the computer by a Taskforce member recovered several deleted images of child pornography and an Internet search history consistent with child pornography. 

The forensic preview of computers located in Schumacher’s residence also uncovered an Internet search history consistent with child pornography, and the search resulted in the seizure of six computers for further examination. 

Schumacher was processed at the Wickford Barracks, arraigned in Fourth Division District Court before Associate Judge Mary E. McCaffrey and released on $10,000 Personal Recognizance with special bail conditions regarding computer use and contact with minors under 18 years of age. 

A person convicted of possessing child pornography is subject to a fine of not more than $5,000, or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. 

The RIICAC Task Force is a Department of Justice grant-funded program administered by the Rhode Island State Police Detective Division and is comprised of the six members of the Computer Crimes Unit along with detectives from the Providence Police Department, West Warwick Police Department, Coventry Police Department, Warwick Police Department, Johnston Police Department, Pawtucket Police Department, Jamestown Police Department, Richmond Police Department; and special agents from Homeland Security Investigation (HSI), United States Postal Inspection Services (USPS), and Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS). 

The objective of the RIICAC Task Force is to form strong working relationships among local, state, and federal law enforcement in order to effectively and efficiently prevent, detect, investigate, and prosecute online child exploitation and child pornography crimes. 

O’Donnell offered the following comments, “I commend the work of the ICAC Unit and its continued vigilance in identifying and apprehending these online predators.  I would also like to extend my thanks to President David Dooley and his entire staff at the University of Rhode Island for their efforts in combating those individuals seeking to exploit the children of our State.”

Additional Information

According to the university’s online directory, Schumacher is a manager at Dining Services. He has a website made as part of a class in the Spring of 1998, but it hasn’t been updated since then.

As of 4:30 p.m., the online Rhode Island court database was unavailable, so it’s unclear if Schumacher has a past arrest history. A web search of Schumacher revealed no other relevant information.

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