A Lindsborg man appeared in federal court Friday to face charges of traveling to a foreign country to have sex with a 13-year-old girl.
Acting U.S. Attorney for Kansas Tom Beall says Anthony Shultz, 53, Lindsborg, Kan., was charged with one count of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place, one count of producing child pornography, one count of distributing child pornography and one count of identity theft.
According to court documents, Shultz is alleged to have traveled to the Philippines, where he engaged in sex with a minor, produced videos of the act and distributed the videos on the Internet. The case began in April 2016 when the FBI received a tip that a U.S. citizen was sexually abusing minors in the Philippines, producing live-streaming videos and distributing the videos via the Internet to users who paid to see them. Investigators followed an electronic trail to Shultz, who is a commercial pilot and owns a home in Lindsborg.
If convicted, Shultz faces up to 30 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on the charge of traveling for sex with a minor, not less than 15 years and not more than 30 years and a fine up to $250,000 on the charge of producing child pornography, not less than five years and not more than more than 20 years on the charge of distributing child pornography, and a maximum penalty of five years and a fine up to $250,000 on the identity theft charge.
Friday afternoon, Shultz appeared in U.S. District Court in Wichita. He will remain in custody pending a detention hearing July 29.
