He will be put on supervised probation when he gets out.
A Frederick man was sentenced Tuesday in Circuit Court. Mark David Schluter, 53, was given 60 years in prison for child sexual abuse and possession of child pornography. But Judge William Nicklas required that Schluter serve 30 years of that sentence.
State's Attorney Charlie Smith says because of his age, Schluter will probably spend the remainder of his life in prison. But if he lives long enough to get out, he'll be put on five-years supervised probation, and must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
"He had no criminal history whatsoever," says Smith. "But the Pre-Sentence Investigation had some stuff in it that really gave Judge Nicklas some pause. And fortunately, Judge Nicklas felt he was a threat and gave him the 30-year sentence."
Schluter was arrested in January, 2012, after he uploaded child pornography on a popular website that's monitored by the State Police Computer Crimes Unit, Smith says. Troopers went to Schluter's home, and found child pornography materials, and pictures of a girl he would watch from time to time. Investigators learned that Schluter sexually abused the victim between 2006 and 2012, when the child was between the ages of six and 11.
While this sentence takes a man like Schluter off the streets and away from children, Smith says it can't erase the victim's bad experiences. "Justice doesn't come in the form of a jail sentence, unfortunately, for somebody like this. But that's all we can do in this system is see that he doesn't do that to any girls in the future."
Schluter pleaded guilty in May to three child sexual abuse charges and one count of child pornography, according to Smith.
Judge Nicklas gave Schluter five years in prison for the pornography offense, which he has to serve concurrently with the 30 years for the child sexual abuse offenses.
