Former teacher pleads guilty to distributing child sex abuse video online

Jordan Frederic Schemmel faces 5-20 years in federal prison

Duval County Public School's bio photo of Jordan Frederic Schemmel

A former teacher at Terry Parker High School faces between five and 20 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to distributing child pornography online, officials said Wednesday.

Jordan Frederic Schemmel, 37, also will be required to register as a sex offender, according to the Department of Justice.

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On Sept. 5, 2018, Schemmel went online using the name “Profsunrise15” to respond to a message on a bulletin board frequented by people who are sexually interested in children, investigators said.

But an undercover FBI agent had posted the message, according to a news release from authorities, citing court documents.

“Schemmel then began an online conversation with the agent using a popular social messaging (app),” officials said. “After some conversation about sexual interest in children, Schemmel sent the agent a video that depicted a young child being sexually assaulted by an adult male and later sent a photo depicting similar criminal conduct with a child. FBI agents were able to identify the IP address used by Schemmel and tracked it to his residence.”

Law enforcement officials served a search warrant at Schemmel’s home Oct. 19 and said that during an interview, Schemmel admitted to sending the video in question. He told authorities that he’d tried unsuccessfully multiple times to stop watching child porn, according to investigators.

Officials went through his smartphone and a thumb drive from Schemmel’s home and said they found 106 images and 28 videos depicting the sexual abuse of young children.

The Ormond Beach man also faces a potential life term of supervised release once his prison sentence is complete.

Among the investigating agencies were the FBI, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. This case was part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

In an October report, News4Jax learned Schemmel had been the International Baccalaureate program coordinator at Terry Parker, in Jacksonville, since February 2017. Prior to that, he worked as a social studies teacher at Ponte Vedra High School and was head coach of that school's Model United Nations team, leading it to two state championships, according to his Duval County Public Schools online biography. 

Schemmel had also previously worked at Ed White High School.


Read more: Jacksonville high school teacher charged with distribution of child porn