FORT WAYNE – Scott Trischler, age 25, of Fort Wayne, Indiana was sentenced before U.S. District Court Judge Holly A. Brady upon his plea of guilty of sexual exploitation of a minor, announced U.S. Attorney Kirsch.

Trischler was sentenced to 180 months in prison followed by 5 years of supervised release, and a special assessment of $5,100 was also imposed.

According to documents in this case, Trischler communicated with a victim who was 12 years of age while he was playing with her as an administrator of an online game.  He continued to communicate with the victim after finding out his/her age and after the victim’s parents attempted to stop the communication.  He encouraged the victim to communicate with him on other online platforms and began engaging in sexually explicit communications.  He was also able to convince the victim to send digital still and video images that were sexually explicit which he saved to his phone and eventually transferred to his computer. 

The initial charges were filed and handled by the US Attorney’s office in the Eastern District of California, Fresno Office, and the defendant was arrested and pled guilty here in the Northern District of Indiana. The case was investigated by FBI in the Sacramento California Division, along with the Madera County Sheriff’s Department, and these law enforcement entities received assistance from the Fort Wayne Resident Office of the FBI, including members of its Violent Crimes Against Children (VCAC) Task Force Officers.  The case was handled by Assistant United States Attorney Stacey R. Speith.  

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