A Texas man is facing a possible maximum sentence of 30 years in prison after pleading guilty in federal court to one count of production of child pornography on Tuesday.
Sean Charles Mueller, 34, of the Dallas/Fort Worth area, admitted on Tuesday to exchanging explicit photos and engaging in sexually explicit chats over a social media app with a 14-year-old Independence County girl.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristin Bryant, on June 15, 2021, the Independence County sheriff's office contacted the U.S. Secret Service to request assistance with a child exploitation case. Bryant said Independence County law enforcement reported that they were contacted by a woman who said her 14-year-old daughter had been chatting via Discord with a reportedly 31-year-old man -- who was later identified as Mueller -- and had sent sexually explicit images of herself to him.
Bryant said when the girl was interviewed by investigators, she told them she had met the man on an internet chat room, "Wire Club," telling investigators the two began to chat on a daily basis with messages that quickly became sexual in nature, leading to pornographic images being exchanged between the two.
According to court documents, Mueller was indicted by a federal grand jury in Little Rock on Feb. 2, 2022, on nine counts of production of child pornography and one count of receipt of child pornography. On March 6, 2022, Mueller was arrested by the Secret Service in McKinney, Texas, a city of just over 200,000 people that is 32 miles north of Dallas in neighboring Collin County. Following an initial appearance before a U.S. magistrate judge in Sherman, Texas, on March 7, court documents said, Mueller was detained for transport to the Eastern District of Arkansas.
Following a delay of just over an hour Tuesday to allow Mueller to confer privately with his attorney, KenDrell Collins with the Federal Public Defenders Office in Little Rock, and to clear up some other issues in an ex parte hearing before U.S. District Judge Lee Rudofsky, the judge explained the charge contained in the plea agreement and the possible penalties Mueller could face.
Rudofsky said that under federal sentencing statutes, Mueller could face a prison term ranging from a minimum of 15 years to a maximum of 30, a fine of up to $250,000 and a period of supervised release ranging from five years to life.
"In terms of prison time," Rudofsky said, "we're talking about a statutory minimum of 15 years."
After explaining Mueller's rights regarding going to trial and his appeal rights in the event of conviction by a jury, the judge explained that a guilty plea would forfeit nearly all of those rights, saying that a guilty plea "is the strongest proof known to the law."
Rudofsky also explained the U.S. sentencing guidelines and cautioned Mueller that if anyone had attempted to predict a potential sentence under the guidelines, "you should take that with a huge grain of salt," because the guideline range as calculated at the time of sentencing could be affected by a number of variables. He also explained that under his authority as a district judge, he can order a sentence above or below the guideline range up to the maximum or down to the minimum allowed by sentencing statutes.
"The guidelines range is not mandatory on me," Rudofsky said. "The guidelines are an important factor but they are only one factor out of a number of factors I have to look at."
Bryant told Rudofsky that Mueller had agreed to plead guilty to one count of production of child pornography in exchange for the dismissal of the remainder of the indictment.
She said the investigation into Mueller's interactions with the 14-year-old revealed the usernames both used on Discord and a search warrant executed on Discord turned up details of the activity between the two.
"A review of the Discord chats between [Mueller] and [the girl] revealed sexually explicit chats and that on numerous occasions, [Mueller] requested that [she] take sexually explicit photos and videos of herself to send to him," Bryant said. "The Discord chats also listed any attachments that were sent via Discord."
Bryant said investigators discovered 257 images and nine videos of the girl that fit the legal description of child pornography. She said on numerous occasions detailed through chats between the two obtained through the search warrant, Mueller had acknowledged that he knew the girl was 14 years old.
Rudofsky asked Mueller if Bryant's recitation of the plea agreement's factual basis was accurate, which Mueller affirmed.
"When you had [the girl] send you these pornographic pictures and videos," the judge asked, "is it correct you knew she was 14?"
"Yes," Mueller replied.
After Mueller pleaded guilty to the offense, Rudofsky asked him further, "is that because you are in fact guilty of Count 1 of the indictment?"
"Yes sir," Mueller replied.
Rudofsky told Mueller that following completion, review and adoption of a presentence report by the U.S. Probation Office in Little Rock -- a process he said typically takes between two and three months -- he will schedule a sentencing hearing.