Child molester convicted of abusing two boys

SAN JOSE, Calif. – 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. Prosecutor Steve Fein said outside court that he will seek the maximum sentence, life in prison.

Prosecutors said Schwartzmiller had at least three molestation convictions and a dozen arrests over three decades.

During the nearly three-week trial, 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, including Idaho, as well as 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.”

In 1984, the Idaho Supreme Court upheld his 1978 conviction for molesting two 14-year-old boys and characterized Schwartzmiller as a “repeat offender” who “uses his intelligence to take advantage of the weak and oppressed and those who are in need.”