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36,000 sex acts believed logged by molester
Notebooks seized in home of man first convicted in 1970
A sexual predator accused of molesting two San Jose boys documented in chilling detail more than 36,000 purported sex acts with young boys for three decades in seven states, Brazil and Mexico, police said Thursday.
Investigators said the abuse case could be the worst they have ever seen.
The logs were found on 1,360 pages in seven spiral notebooks that police seized last month at the San Jose home of Dean Arthur Schwartzmiller, 63, who has been charged with seven felony counts of molestation involving two 12-year- old San Jose boys. The entries contain first names or nicknames such as "Cowboy,'' and some of the names appear repeatedly.
"We know that according to these records, some of these children have been molested multiple times,'' police Lt. Scott Cornfield said at a news conference. "If any of these numbers are even close to accurate, then it is one of the most significant child molestation finds that we have ever encountered.''
Schwartzmiller has a history of child molestation convictions dating to 1970 in Alaska, Idaho and Oregon, and with arrests in New York, California, Arkansas and Washington. Police said his notes indicate that he also molested boys in Mexico and Brazil.
His last conviction was in Oregon more than 10 years ago. San Jose police have not determined whether he is a registered sex offender required to check in with local police and appear on the state Megan's Law Web site.
Authorities are reconstructing Schwartzmiller's movements during the past 35 years and hope to identify possible victims so they can file additional criminal charges.
Police believe Schwartzmiller, who apparently earned the trust of parents whom he worked with as a home renovation contractor, used several aliases -- including Dean Miller and Dean Harmon -- during the past five years to avoid revealing his long history of sex-crime convictions.
He then showered his alleged victims with gifts and invited them to his Vineyard Street home to watch movies and play video games and ride a "pocket" motorbike.
"If some adult inserts themselves into a family's life and spends a lot of time engaging in the activities that the kids like, then the parents need to pay attention to that," Cornfield said -- particularly a childless adult with many computer games and skateboards.
In 1993, Schwartzmiller was charged in Portland, Ore., with 61 counts of sexual assault and liquor charges involving three teenage boys. Authorities then described him as a "serial pedophile" who lured boys with high-paying jobs at his plastering firm, then plied them with beer and took them to car races.
Jim Hayden, a Multnomah County deputy district attorney, said his case against Schwartzmiller suffered because witnesses were reluctant to testify. "He would intimidate them. They were already somewhat embarrassed to testify - - none of these factors make for good ingredients in a case,'' Hayden said.
Schwartzmiller pleaded no contest to three felony counts of sodomy and was paroled in three years.
"I would have preferred putting this guy away forever, but complications in the case didn't allow for it,'' Hayden said.
In San Jose, police also seized binders containing thousands of pornographic photographs of children, several computers and a 6-foot-tall computer server, which is being analyzed by a forensic lab in Menlo Park.
Police suspect the machines will contain images of child pornography and possibly databases of victims. Investigators are trying to determine whether Schwartzmiller was operating a Web site or using computers to lure victims.
While investigators said they hadn't confirmed that the coded entries -- which included the letters "F" and "X" after some names -- are sexual acts, some page headings, written in a loopy cursive, categorize boys according to graphically specific sex acts.
Other headings include "Boys under 12,'' "Blond Boys," "Cute Boys," "Boys who say no," Cornfield said.
"I've never seen anything like this,'' said Sgt. Tom Sims, head of San Jose's child exploitation unit.
Police got onto the case after a San Jose mother reported May 22 that she had found her 12-year-old son in possession of a binder and CDs containing child porn that the boy was about to destroy at Schwartzmiller's urging.
Schwartzmiller fled to Washington state, where Snohomish County sheriff's deputies arrested him the next night after finding him hiding in a backyard. As the investigation unfolded, local detectives found another San Jose boy who reportedly had been victimized.
Schwartzmiller remained jailed without bail in San Jose on Thursday. If convicted on all counts and enhanced penalties for multiple victims, he faces up to 105 years in prison, said Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Steve Fein.
San Jose police also have arrested Schwartzmiller's roommate, Fred Everts, 34, on charges that he also molested one of the two San Jose boys. Schwartzmiller also faces child sexual assault charges in Oregon, while Everts is wanted for parole violation.
Lisa Thornburg, who lives two houses down from Schwartzmiller's San Jose home and has two young boys, said she became suspicious after Schwartzmiller moved in two months ago.
"The first weekend we were here, the boys came in with ice cream, and said the nice man down the street had bought them ice cream," she said. When she learned Schwartzmiller was an unmarried man with no children, Thornburg warned her boys to stay away from him.
Thornburg said there were always boys playing outside the suspect's house, drawn to the occupants' collection of video games and toys, which included the miniature motorcycle the men let them ride. She added that two boys, including one the same age as the alleged San Jose victims, were regularly dropped off by their parent at the home to be baby-sat by Schwartzmiller.
One of Thornburg sons said Schwartzmiller tried to engage him in small talk. "He would say, 'How is school going? What grade are you in? Are you getting good grades?' " the boy said Thursday.
Police urged possible victims to come forward, vowing to help obtain counseling for the trauma that often remains a dark secret and can turn young victims into adult sex offenders..Anyone with information can call San Jose police at (408) 277-4102 San Jose police at (408) 277-4102 or leave anonymous information at (408) 277-STOP. at (408) 277-STOP.
Time line of the case
Dean Arthur Schwartzmiller has a criminal history of preying on boys dating back 35 years:
-- Feb. 12, 1970 -- Schwartzmiller, then 28, is convicted in Juneau, Alaska, of two charges of lewd contact after being accused of molesting three teenage boys. He is placed on two years' probation.
-- March 14, 1974 -- Idaho police arrest Schwartzmiller on charges of molesting two 13-year-old boys. He makes bail and flees to Brazil.
-- June 23, 1975 -- Federal authorities arrest him in Brooklyn, N.Y., as he leaves an airplane. He claims that police illegally kidnapped him in Brazil and put him on a plane to LaGuardia Airport.
-- June 11, 1976 -- He is convicted in Idaho of one of the 1974 child molestation charges and is sentenced to eight years in prison. He is paroled less than two years later, and the state's Supreme Court overturns his conviction.
-- Jan. 6, 1981 -- Schwartzmiller appears in federal court in San Francisco to face charges that he enticed a 16-year-old Arkansas boy to California to make him a prostitute. A magistrate drops the charges so Idaho can prosecute him on 1979 molestation charges.
-- May 13, 1981 -- An Idaho jury convicts Schwartzmiller of three counts of lewd behavior with a minor. He is sentenced to 25 years in prison.
-- Aug. 27, 1987 -- The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco overturns Schwartzmiller's 1981 conviction and orders his release or retrial.
-- March 8, 1989 -- He pleads guilty to one count of lewd behavior and agrees to drop civil lawsuits against his Idaho victims. In exchange, the state prosecutor drops the other two counts and a judge sets him free.
-- May 3, 1993 -- Schwartzmiller is sent to prison in Portland, Ore., for three felony counts of sodomy involving three teen boys and is paroled in three years.
May 23, 2005 -- A fugitive Schwartzmiller is arrested in Snohomish County, charged with aggravated sexual assault of a 12-year-old San Jose boy and an outstanding child molestation warrant in Oregon. Seven additional felony counts are later added after a second San Jose victim is identified.
Sources: The Chronicle
Notebooks seized in home of man first convicted in 1970
A sexual predator accused of molesting two San Jose boys documented in chilling detail more than 36,000 purported sex acts with young boys for three decades in seven states, Brazil and Mexico, police said Thursday.
Investigators said the abuse case could be the worst they have ever seen.
The logs were found on 1,360 pages in seven spiral notebooks that police seized last month at the San Jose home of Dean Arthur Schwartzmiller, 63, who has been charged with seven felony counts of molestation involving two 12-year- old San Jose boys. The entries contain first names or nicknames such as "Cowboy,'' and some of the names appear repeatedly.
"We know that according to these records, some of these children have been molested multiple times,'' police Lt. Scott Cornfield said at a news conference. "If any of these numbers are even close to accurate, then it is one of the most significant child molestation finds that we have ever encountered.''
Schwartzmiller has a history of child molestation convictions dating to 1970 in Alaska, Idaho and Oregon, and with arrests in New York, California, Arkansas and Washington. Police said his notes indicate that he also molested boys in Mexico and Brazil.
His last conviction was in Oregon more than 10 years ago. San Jose police have not determined whether he is a registered sex offender required to check in with local police and appear on the state Megan's Law Web site.
Authorities are reconstructing Schwartzmiller's movements during the past 35 years and hope to identify possible victims so they can file additional criminal charges.
Police believe Schwartzmiller, who apparently earned the trust of parents whom he worked with as a home renovation contractor, used several aliases -- including Dean Miller and Dean Harmon -- during the past five years to avoid revealing his long history of sex-crime convictions.
He then showered his alleged victims with gifts and invited them to his Vineyard Street home to watch movies and play video games and ride a "pocket" motorbike.
"If some adult inserts themselves into a family's life and spends a lot of time engaging in the activities that the kids like, then the parents need to pay attention to that," Cornfield said -- particularly a childless adult with many computer games and skateboards.
In 1993, Schwartzmiller was charged in Portland, Ore., with 61 counts of sexual assault and liquor charges involving three teenage boys. Authorities then described him as a "serial pedophile" who lured boys with high-paying jobs at his plastering firm, then plied them with beer and took them to car races.
Jim Hayden, a Multnomah County deputy district attorney, said his case against Schwartzmiller suffered because witnesses were reluctant to testify. "He would intimidate them. They were already somewhat embarrassed to testify - - none of these factors make for good ingredients in a case,'' Hayden said.
Schwartzmiller pleaded no contest to three felony counts of sodomy and was paroled in three years.
"I would have preferred putting this guy away forever, but complications in the case didn't allow for it,'' Hayden said.
In San Jose, police also seized binders containing thousands of pornographic photographs of children, several computers and a 6-foot-tall computer server, which is being analyzed by a forensic lab in Menlo Park.
Police suspect the machines will contain images of child pornography and possibly databases of victims. Investigators are trying to determine whether Schwartzmiller was operating a Web site or using computers to lure victims.
While investigators said they hadn't confirmed that the coded entries -- which included the letters "F" and "X" after some names -- are sexual acts, some page headings, written in a loopy cursive, categorize boys according to graphically specific sex acts.
Other headings include "Boys under 12,'' "Blond Boys," "Cute Boys," "Boys who say no," Cornfield said.
"I've never seen anything like this,'' said Sgt. Tom Sims, head of San Jose's child exploitation unit.
Police got onto the case after a San Jose mother reported May 22 that she had found her 12-year-old son in possession of a binder and CDs containing child porn that the boy was about to destroy at Schwartzmiller's urging.
Schwartzmiller fled to Washington state, where Snohomish County sheriff's deputies arrested him the next night after finding him hiding in a backyard. As the investigation unfolded, local detectives found another San Jose boy who reportedly had been victimized.
Schwartzmiller remained jailed without bail in San Jose on Thursday. If convicted on all counts and enhanced penalties for multiple victims, he faces up to 105 years in prison, said Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Steve Fein.
San Jose police also have arrested Schwartzmiller's roommate, Fred Everts, 34, on charges that he also molested one of the two San Jose boys. Schwartzmiller also faces child sexual assault charges in Oregon, while Everts is wanted for parole violation.
Lisa Thornburg, who lives two houses down from Schwartzmiller's San Jose home and has two young boys, said she became suspicious after Schwartzmiller moved in two months ago.
"The first weekend we were here, the boys came in with ice cream, and said the nice man down the street had bought them ice cream," she said. When she learned Schwartzmiller was an unmarried man with no children, Thornburg warned her boys to stay away from him.
Thornburg said there were always boys playing outside the suspect's house, drawn to the occupants' collection of video games and toys, which included the miniature motorcycle the men let them ride. She added that two boys, including one the same age as the alleged San Jose victims, were regularly dropped off by their parent at the home to be baby-sat by Schwartzmiller.
One of Thornburg sons said Schwartzmiller tried to engage him in small talk. "He would say, 'How is school going? What grade are you in? Are you getting good grades?' " the boy said Thursday.
Police urged possible victims to come forward, vowing to help obtain counseling for the trauma that often remains a dark secret and can turn young victims into adult sex offenders..Anyone with information can call San Jose police at (408) 277-4102 San Jose police at (408) 277-4102 or leave anonymous information at (408) 277-STOP. at (408) 277-STOP.
Time line of the case
Dean Arthur Schwartzmiller has a criminal history of preying on boys dating back 35 years:
-- Feb. 12, 1970 -- Schwartzmiller, then 28, is convicted in Juneau, Alaska, of two charges of lewd contact after being accused of molesting three teenage boys. He is placed on two years' probation.
-- March 14, 1974 -- Idaho police arrest Schwartzmiller on charges of molesting two 13-year-old boys. He makes bail and flees to Brazil.
-- June 23, 1975 -- Federal authorities arrest him in Brooklyn, N.Y., as he leaves an airplane. He claims that police illegally kidnapped him in Brazil and put him on a plane to LaGuardia Airport.
-- June 11, 1976 -- He is convicted in Idaho of one of the 1974 child molestation charges and is sentenced to eight years in prison. He is paroled less than two years later, and the state's Supreme Court overturns his conviction.
-- Jan. 6, 1981 -- Schwartzmiller appears in federal court in San Francisco to face charges that he enticed a 16-year-old Arkansas boy to California to make him a prostitute. A magistrate drops the charges so Idaho can prosecute him on 1979 molestation charges.
-- May 13, 1981 -- An Idaho jury convicts Schwartzmiller of three counts of lewd behavior with a minor. He is sentenced to 25 years in prison.
-- Aug. 27, 1987 -- The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco overturns Schwartzmiller's 1981 conviction and orders his release or retrial.
-- March 8, 1989 -- He pleads guilty to one count of lewd behavior and agrees to drop civil lawsuits against his Idaho victims. In exchange, the state prosecutor drops the other two counts and a judge sets him free.
-- May 3, 1993 -- Schwartzmiller is sent to prison in Portland, Ore., for three felony counts of sodomy involving three teen boys and is paroled in three years.
May 23, 2005 -- A fugitive Schwartzmiller is arrested in Snohomish County, charged with aggravated sexual assault of a 12-year-old San Jose boy and an outstanding child molestation warrant in Oregon. Seven additional felony counts are later added after a second San Jose victim is identified.
Sources: The Chronicle
