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FBI Reveals More Details About Cary Man's Arrest On Porn Charges

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Brian Schellenberger
RALEIGH, N.C. — Brian Schellenberger is charged with four counts of sexual exploitation of children, and one count of possessing child pornography. He was supposed to be arraigned Monday, but the hearing was postponed because of scheduling conflicts. Now, FBI agents are telling more about the case and what led to his arrest.

A for-sale sign now sits in front of Schellenberger's home in Cary. Neighbors say it showed up, and his family took off, shortly after his arrest last December.

"It seemed like they almost disappeared in the middle of the night. Moving trucks came almost immediately and within a weekend, they packed up and were gone," neighbor Melissa Caporale said.

The Toronto police department is credited with building a case against Schellenberger. Their big break came when a wristband and T-shirt worn by the girl in the pornographic computer images was traced to Raleigh.

"On December 2003, the Toronto Police Department called FBI agents in Raleigh. They had come across some particularly disturbing image on the Internet," FBI agent Chris Swicker said. "They had picked out some information, which helped us identify the victim within four hours by going to an uniform distributor who directed agents to the victim's school."

According to the

Toronto Globe

, U.S. authorities are also looking into whether Schellenberger tried to hire someone to kill the girl and her mother.

Schellenberger was a longtime SAS employee, where he worked as a software developer. Authorities said he had 450 graphic images taken from his computer involving a 6-year-old girl and a 3-month-old boy. That information led to five other arrests.

"One of the arrests involved an individual who was connecting people who wanted to have sex with children. The other individual was arrested in connection with traveling to have sex with children in an international capacity," FBI agent Doris Gardner said.

That case involved a Texas woman, accused of renting out her children to a person from the United Kingdom. The FBI said more arrests are possible.

Schellenberger's arraignment will be in June.

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