A police administrative officer has been jailed after he was caught sending explicit messages to young children, including telling a nine-year-old girl they would have sex on her tenth birthday.
Daniel Schultz, 39, from Kalamunda, east of Perth, was a member of the force for 17 years before he was arrested in June 2023.
He will now spend the next five and a half years behind bars after being convicted of several child exploitation offences.
Schultz’s behavior eventually caught him off guard when he began sending sexually explicit messages to an undercover police officer posing as a 12-year-old girl on Skype between April and June last year. Western Australian reported.
Schultz asked the girl if she was a virgin and told her he knew “some kids your age who have sex enjoy it”, the WA District Court heard.
Police administrative assistant Daniel Schultz, 39, has been jailed after sending sexually explicit messages to young children
Schultz was sentenced to five and a half years behind bars in the District Court of Western Australia
He also messaged her asking if they were boyfriend and girlfriend, while telling her that they had to keep their relationship a secret from her mother.
He sent her a photo of himself, asked for one back and told her he wanted to be her first kiss.
Police discovered that Schultz also used the apps Snapchat and Hangout to talk to nine other people he believed were children under the age of 13.
He sent sexually explicit messages to a 12-year-old German girl in May 2019 and later in July 2021, he exchanged messages with a 10-year-old boy who police believe Schultz had images stored on his phone.
The 39-year-old also wanted to plan a holiday with a nine-year-old girl who he told would have sex on her tenth birthday.
During his arrest, police seized several items from Schultz’s office and home, uncovering 1,494 child exploitation images and 999 child exploitation videos.
Schultz messaged nine children he thought were 13 or younger on Skype, Snapchat and Hangout, court was told
The court was told that Schultz admitted during his police interview that he had used online chat rooms to talk to children for years.
He claimed he never intended to meet any of the children in person, but admitted he had been messaging one boy for four years.
Schultz admitted that in 2017 he paid someone $250 to attend a meeting with people who had access to children “who were okay with that kind of thing.”
He claimed that no one showed up for the meeting.
Schultz’s attorney told the court he was remorseful, ashamed of his actions, and willing to get counseling.
Judge Gary Massey said Schultz’s behavior involved him “fulfilling a fantasy” but did not accept it was limited to that.
The judge added that Schultz had a clear sexual interest in children, but said he could not discover that he had met them.