Published: September 30, 2009 11:56 pm      

Two facing Internet porn charges

Mother and step-father arrested

Somewhere in Clarke County there is an 18-year old girl and her 16-year old brother whose worlds have been changed

irrevocably.

According to Clarke County Sheriff Todd Kemp, Monday night Ronald Dewayne Schitz and Kimberly Odom Schitz, both of Stonewall, were arrested by authorities with the Clarke County Sheriff's Department and charged with various child sex crimes and Internet pornography offenses. Kimberly Odom Schitz is the mother of the two teens while Ronald Dewayne Schitz is their step-father.

Kemp said the accusations against the couple stemmed from an investigation of photos of the teens on the Internet.

"We had information that inappropriate photos of the teens may have been published on the Internet," said Kemp.

Kimberly Odom Schitz was charged with two counts of condoning child abuse while Ronald Dewayne Schitz is charged with two counts of child pornography, the distribution of sexually oriented material and molestation. Both were processed through the Clarke County Sheriff's Department and were released on bond Wednesday pending a grand jury review of the case in November.

Kemp said the investigation into this case was initially launched by his department four months ago after CCSD investigators were informed of possible abuse and two Internet pornographic sites connected to the couple. Investigators confiscated the computer from the home and sent it to computer and Internet specialists with Mississippi State Attorney General Jim Hood's office in Jackson.

"We don't have someone here in my department who is trained to deal with finding evidence on a computer," said Kemp. "We thought it best to let the AG's office and their specialists handle that aspect of the case to see if they could retrieve evidence from the computer."

The two teen victims in this alleged incident are receiving counseling, according to sources close to the family.