Wanted sex offender, 51, who was caught with child porn is found sleeping in Louisiana swamp living off rats he hunted with makeshift spear
- U.S. Marshals on March 14 found Brian Schaller, 51, who lived at the shelter
- He was convicted of child pornography distribution in 2016 and had active arrest warrants for sexual assault and violating the terms of the sex offender registry
A wanted sex offender was found living in a stick-and-tarp shelter deep in a Louisiana swamp and eating rats that he hunted with a makeshift spear.
Brian Schaller, 51, was convicted in 2016 of distributing child pornography and had active warrants for his arrest for sexual battery and violating the terms of the sex offender registry.
Earlier this month, U.S. Marshals received a tip that he was living in the Atchafalaya Basin, east of Lafayette, and tracked him down to his encampment deep in the swamp.
He surrendered and told officers he had been living there since January, catching small animals and rodents in traps and killing them with a makeshift spear for food.
Schaller had made a dilapidated hut out of stacked branches, covered with a tarpaulin and held together with parachute cords and even made an alarm system with string and old cans.
Marshals received a tip that sex offender Brian Schaller was living in a Louisiana swamp hideout
Schaller had an active arrest warrant from the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office for allegedly violating the terms of his sex offender registry and from the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office for sex crimes and oral sex crimes
The shelter was made of branches stacked on top of each other and covered with garbage bags and tarpaulin
Schaller was initially charged in 2015 with distribution of child pornography, according to a Marshals Service news release.
They said he also had an active arrest warrant from the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office for violating the terms of his sex offender registry and from the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office for sex crimes and oral sex crimes.
On March 12, officers received a tip that Schaller was living deep in the swamp.
They put together a team of uniformed officers, boats and even dog teams to track him down.
Then, on March 14, the team began searching the swamp and found Schaller’s hideout a mile away.
They surrounded it and ordered him out. They said: ‘Schaller complied with verbal commands and was taken into custody without incident.’
Photos of the camp show a rudimentary shelter made of sawed-off branches stacked on top of each other and covered with garbage bags and a tarp.
He had strung a clothesline on the side of the shelter, which was still covered in clothes.
Schaller said he had lived there since January and survived on small animals and rats that he killed with traps and a makeshift spear.
He had made a basket from small branches and even set up an early warning system using string and old cans.
Officers also found a homemade spear, with the blade of a kitchen knife attached to a stick with string.
Schaller also had a basket made from small branches.
The Marshals said, “Schaller had several small game traps along the trails around his encampment, made from paracord and small branches he had collected.
‘Schaller had also deployed an early warning system made of string and aluminum cans.
“Schaller told investigators that he had been living off the land since about January and that he had been subsisting on small game and rodents.”
Schaller was first arrested in December 2014 on 500 counts of possession of child pornography and his bail was set at $51 million.