JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Attorney General Lynn Fitch (R-Miss.) announced four men were sentenced in separate child exploitation cases in Mississippi.
On August 1, Matthew R. Strempler, of Bay St. Louis, pled guilty and was sentenced by Hancock County Circuit Judge Lisa P. Dodson on one count of Child Exploitation. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison with 18 to serve and five years of post-release supervision.
On June 30, Mikel P. Carlson, of Stonewall, pled guilty and was sentenced by Clarke County Circuit Judge Robert “Bo” Bailey on two separate counts of Possession of Child Exploitation Material. On the first count, Carlson was sentenced to 40 years in prison with five years to serve and five years of post-release supervision. On the second count, he was sentenced to 40 years in prison with 10 years to serve and five years of post-release supervision. The terms of imprisonment will run consecutively.
On June 29, Caleb Schooley, of Memphis, Tennessee, pled guilty and was sentenced by Desoto County Circuit Judge Celeste Embry Wilson on one count of Child Exploitation (enticing a child to meet for sexually explicit purposes). Schooley was sentenced to 40 years in prison with 15 to serve, five years supervised probation, and 20 years of non-reporting probation.
On June 27, Christopher A. Deen, of Covington County, pled guilty and was sentenced by Covington County Circuit Judge Stanley Sorey on two counts of Child Exploitation. On the first count, Deen was sentenced to 20 years in prison with 10 to serve and five years of post-release supervision. On the second count, Deen was sentenced to the same and the sentences will be served concurrently.
Schooley’s arrest in April 2021 was a result of Operation Blue Rain, a multi-jurisdictional operation coordinated by the Attorney General’s Office Cyber Crime Division.
All four men will have to register as sex offenders.
If you have information about a child being sexually exploited online, please report it to 1-800-843-5678. You can also make a report online at www.cybertipline.org.