Maryland man charged with receiving child porn from San Diego man
A 34-year-old man has been indicted in Maryland on charges of receiving images over the Internet of a San Diego man sexually molesting a 6-week-old foster child, federal prosecutors said Thursday.
Stephen Schaffner, of Greensboro, Md., is charged with receiving images of Michael Lutts sexually molesting an infant boy placed under his care through the foster parent program. The infant had been born prematurely.
Lutts, 50, a pediatric nurse, was charged in August with sexual exploitation of a child and is awaiting trial.
FBI agents said they were led to Lutts when they were investigating a purveyor of child pornography and found Lutts’ name.
The agents found numerous hard drives, CDs and emails involving child pornography in a search of Lutts’ home, including some images showing Lutts molesting an infant, according to court documents.
When Lutts was given care of the infant under the foster parent program, he immediately emailed Schaffner and the two made plans for Lutts to molest the child and send the images to Schaffner, according to federal prosecutors.
Schaffner was a licensed clinical professional counselor in Maryland until his license was suspended in June, prosecutors said. He also worked for the U.S. Postal Service.
Twitter: @LATsandiego
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