A man prosecutors say was one of the nation's most prolific child molesters was convicted Monday of abusing two 12-year-old boys.
The jury deliberated for just four hours before finding Dean Schwartzmiller, 64, guilty of 11 felony counts of child molestation and one misdemeanor charge of child pornography possession.
Schwartzmiller stood with his arms crossed as the verdicts were read. He represented himself during the trial but asked for an attorney to represent him during the sentencing phase, which will begin Oct. 16. He faces up to life in prison.
Prosecutors said Schwartzmiller, who has at least three molestation convictions and a dozen arrests over three decades, left a trail of abused children.
During the nearly three-week trial, prosecutor Steve Fein showed jurors a map of the "places and decades where the defendant has molested young boys." It included an estimated 100 accusers dating back to 1969 in eight U.S. states, Mexico and Brazil.
Prosecutors pointed to a graphic 456-page memoir, 10 binders full of child pornography and 1,500 notebook pages with headings including "no, but yes boys," "best of the best, 13 and under" and "single-parent boys."
Schwartzmiller said the memoir and notebook entries were fiction. He blamed his roommate, Frederick Everts — also a convicted child molester — for the child porn.
Schwartzmiller testified on his own behalf and said he could not have molested the two boys, who are cousins, because he was either at a construction job or bedridden with a bad back at the time. In his closing argument, he noted discrepancies in testimony by the boys.
