CEBU, PHILIPPINES – This month, a U.S. court sentenced 56-year-old Anthony Schultz to 84 years in prison for filming the rape of underage Filipino girls and sharing the abuse online.

Kansas native Anthony Shultz had pleaded guilty in July 2018 to three counts of producing child pornography. The U.S. Department of Justice announced his sentencing in a press release on 8 August 2019.

The case against Schultz dated back to 2016, when he was arrested for multiple counts of child pornography he created in the Philippines. U.S.-based FBI investigators had discovered that Schultz would film himself sexually abusing children and then sell the materials online. He also convinced a mother in another Filipino community to sexually abuse her own daughter and sell the videos to him.

Throughout 2017, IJM supported Philippine authorities as they used this intelligence to rescue the three girls from Schultz’s videos; the victims were just 10, 15 and 17 at the time of their rescue in May 2017.

Schultz pleaded guilty to three counts of producing child pornography in July 2018. The 10-year-old’s mother remains in hiding, but she has been charged under the Philippines’ anti-trafficking, cybercrime and child protection laws.

“Strong sentences against offenders who produce and distribute child sexual abuse materials serve as an example to other countries whose citizens also fuel the demand for child sexual abuse and exploitation,” says John Tanagho, IJM’s field office director in Cebu.

“It’s time for all demand-side countries to take more seriously their global responsibility to punish, restrain and deter these offenders through sentencing that reflects the gravity of the offenses and protects vulnerable children worldwide.”

See more details in this brief media release from the U.S. Department of Justice.