A Newman Grove man is facing two felony charges resulting from his alleged creation and possession of child pornography.
Madison County Attorney Joe Smith filed a complaint Feb. 1 charging Jason Schade, 39, with visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct and possession of child pornography.
An arrest warrant was signed by County Judge Michael Long the same day that the complaint against Schade was filed. The Madison County Jail inmate roster included Schade’s name beginning Saturday, but court documents didn’t immediately show when Schade was arrested.
Schade was charged following a monthslong investigation by the Nebraska State Patrol.
On March 30, 2022, a tip was reported by a messenger app to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding content on the app that included visual depictions of sexually explicit conduct that had a child as one of its participants or portrayed observers. A cybertip report then was forwarded to law enforcement.
The cybertip included an email address believed to belong to Schade. The tip also contained the internet protocol address (lPA) that uploaded files with sexually explicit conduct. The subscriber of the IPA was identified as Schade, according to the affidavit.
The user of the messenger account belonging to Schade uploaded 40 files depicting sexually explicit conduct involving children.
Included in the uploads, according to an investigator, was one video that showed two girls between 6 to 8 years old engaged in sexual activity with a man. A second video depicts a 4- to 6-year-old girl also engaged in sexually explicit conduct with a man.
Law enforcement authorities executed a search warrant at Schade’s Newman Grove residence on Aug. 31.
At the time of the search warrant, a patrol investigator conducted an agreed upon interview with Schade. During the interview, Schade denied having any child pornography on any of his devices, and he also said he didn’t have the messenger account for which the child pornography files were uploaded.
Schade wanted to stop the interview and resume talking to the investigator later. The investigator said Schade then got out of his unmarked vehicle and walked up to the front of the residence. While the investigator was inside helping collect evidence, he was informed that Schade was getting on an ATV and leaving the property.
In a data extraction of Schade’s cellphone, the investigator located 61 files — 55 photos and six videos — with children involved in sexually explicit conduct.
Schade’s charges — which are Class 1D and 2A felonies — carry a punishment of 3 to 70 years in prison.
Schade, whose bond was set by Long at $1 million, was scheduled to appear in Madison County Court on Monday.
