Thousands of boys molested? Cops seek victims

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Police were hoping Friday that molestation victims would step forward after a convicted child molester was arrested on charges of molesting a boy and authorities found logs suggesting that he abused thousands of children over 30 years across the United States as well as in Mexico and Brazil.

Authorities in this Northern California city said 63-year-old Dean Arthur Schwartzmiller could be the worst child abuser on record in the United States.

"We're going to find victims from throughout the country and going back as far as 30 years," San Jose Police Lt. Scott Cornfield told MSNBC TV.

During a search of his bedroom in San Jose, police discovered binders full of child porn and numerous logs with lists of more than 36,000 children’s names — mostly boys — and codes that appear to indicate how he abused them.

While some of those names are repeats, Cornfield said, "if one-tenth of these numbers are accurate, we’re looking at hundreds of victims in a number of states."

A broad media appeal for help was issued, Cornfield said, because "in most cases, we don't have last names'' of victims.

Held without bail
Schwartzmiller was being held without bail on one count of aggravated sexual assault on a child and six counts of lewd and lascivious conduct on a child, with each count alleging multiple victims. Those counts carry a maximum penalty of 105 years in prison, Cornfield said.

AP file Dean Arthur Schwartzmiller is seen in a 1998 San Jose police booking photo after his arrest that year for jumping parole in Oregon.

He was arrested in Washington state late last month and sent to San Jose on June 7.

Authorities said Schwartzmiller apparently gained the trust of victims and parents by working as a home renovation contractor. He also used many aliases, among them Dean Miller and Dean Harmon.

He apparently did not register as a sex offender, so his history did not appear in the “Megan’s Law” databases in California or other states, authorities said.

“It’s as shocking to me as to you,” said Sgt. Tom Sims, a supervisor with the department’s child exploitation division. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Asked if he felt this could be the worst case of child abuse ever, Sims stated: "Absolutely."

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