Philadelphia Man Extradited from Cyprus to the United States to Face Charges of Sex Tourism

June 1, 2010 - PHILADELPHIA—Kenneth Schneider, 45, the founder and president of the Apogee Foundation, arrived in Philadelphia today in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service after being extradited from Cyprus to face charges of traveling for the purpose of engaging in sex with a minor, and transporting a person for criminal sexual conduct. Schneider was arrested March 27, 2010, in Larnaca, Cyprus.

The extradition was announced by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Special Agent-in-Charge John P. Kelleghan, and FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Janice K. Fedarcyk of the Philadelphia Field Office.

According to the two-count indictment unsealed on March 30, 2010, in Philadelphia, Schneider traveled to Moscow, Russia, in the summer of 1998 where he told two ballet instructors at the Moscow State Academy of Choreography that he was willing to provide “assistance” to students attending the academy. The instructors identified a 12-year-old student whose family could no longer afford to pay his board. Schneider allegedly convinced the boy’s parents to allow him to live with Schneider in an apartment a few blocks from the school. The indictment also alleges that from the fall of 1998 until 2004, Schneider engaged in a sexual relationship with the victim, bringing the victim to Philadelphia for a summer program in 2001, then returning to Moscow with the victim in August 2001 to continue the sexual relationship.

If convicted, Schneider faces a maximum possible prison sentence of 15 years on the count of traveling for the purpose of engaging in sex with a minor, and a maximum possible sentence of 10 years in prison on the charge of transporting a person for criminal sexual conduct.

The case was investigated by ICE and the FBI, with assistance from the Investigative Committee of the General Procuracy of the Russian Federation, the ICE Attaché-Moscow, Russia, and Interpol. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Morgan-Kelly of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Attorneys Deborah Gaynus and Betsy Burke of the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs (OIA) provided significant assistance in effecting the extradition and facilitating foreign legal assistance, as did the ICE Athens Office, Cypriot authorities, and representatives of the U.S. State Department.

OIA provides advice and assistance on international criminal matters to the Attorney General, additional senior Department of Justice officials, the Criminal Division, and the Department’s other legal divisions, the U.S. Attorneys offices, and state and local prosecutors. OIA coordinates the extradition or other legal rendition of international fugitives and all international evidence gathering. In concert with the State Department, OIA also engages in the negotiation of new treaties, conventions and other agreements on international criminal matters.

The Department of Justice thanks the Investigative Committee of the General Procuracy of the Russian Federation for their investigative assistance in this case.