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Sex offender gets 29+ years for trying to trade child porn with an undercover cop

Richard D. Schmeling has a history of targeting girls; he spent time in prison for setting up a camera phone in the changing room at a girls’ dance studio in Ada.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A Kent County man has been sentenced to nearly three decades in federal prison for taking sexually explicit photos of a 7-year-old girl to trade online.

Richard Donald Schmeling had been off parole only a few months when investigators say he sent sexually explicit photos to a man he met on the internet, unaware the man was actually an undercover federal officer.

Schmeling, 35, has a history of targeting young girls. He went to prison for hiding a smart phone in the ceiling of the girl’s changing room at Ada Dance Academy in 2013.

“In 2013 and 2019, Schmeling either attempted to or successfully captured lascivious images of girls under the age of 10,’’ Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexis M. Sanford wrote in a sentencing memorandum. “He has engaged in a pattern of activity involving prohibited sexual conduct.’’

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In the most recent case, he was arrested Dec. 30 during a search at his home on Bellevue Street SW near Buchanan Avenue in Wyoming.

He entered guilty pleas in February to two federal charges, including sexual exploitation of a child.

U.S. District Court Judge Janet T. Neff last week sentenced Schmeling to slightly more than 29 years in prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised release.

Schmeling in 2014 was sentenced to prison by a Kent County judge for secretly recording a changing room at a girls’ dance studio. The camera phone was still recording when police found it. He was discharged from the Michigan Department of Corrections in January of 2019.

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That earlier behavior, federal prosecutors say, indicates his desire to capture lascivious images of minor girls. 

He also made statements to an undercover agent about having a sexual interest in young girls, federal court records show.

“Schmeling was a registered sex offender at the time,’’ Sanford wrote.

RELATED: Man imprisoned for hiding camera in girl’s changing room faces new charges

Undercover operations, like the one that nabbed Schmeling, are a necessary tactic to broom predators from the internet, said Chris McKenna, founder of Caledonia-based Protect Young Eyes.

“It’s unbelievable and horrific work; I wish they weren’t necessary,’’ McKenna said. “But I am so glad they are doing the work that they’re doing.’’

The one-time youth pastor created Protect Young Eyes in 2015 to shield kids from online danger. He says online images can victimize child porn victims again and again.

It's a cycle of abuse for every image that’s shared,’’ McKenna said. 

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