Fresno, Calif- from www.visaliatimesdelta.com – A Visalia husband and wife accused of producing child pornography are being held in a federal jail after a video was found on a camcorder inside a pastor’s home last week.

Terry Schneider II and his wife, Nicole, were taken into custody Friday after Kristi Spaite, wife of Visalia Nazarene Church Community Life Pastor Dave Spaite, found an inappropriate video of the couple and a 2-year-old girl, according to U.S. District Court records filed Sept. 25.

Kristi Spaite found the camcorder and pushed play when she didn’t recognize the camera as her family’s. The video showed Nicole Schneider touching the girl inappropriately and asking her to model underwear for Terry Schneider, who is believed to have been holding the camera, according to a criminal complaint filed by the FBI.

Spaite immediately called the Fresno branch of the FBI after seeing the video, according to the complaint.

The Schneiders lived in a Komfort recreational vehicle parked outside the Spaite home until April. Nicole Schneider is 29, according to court documents that did not include her husband’s age.

The complaint alleges that the video was taken in a Visalia apartment in September 2005.

The mother of the girl, now 7, confirmed to investigators that it was her daughter in the video and that the girl had been left with the Schneiders while the mother was getting a tattoo for her birthday.

The arrests came as a surprise to church officials.

“It’s shocking. There were no red flags,” said Wil Hobbs, executive pastor of Visalia Nazarene Church. “Actually, there were the opposite. They helped out a lot around the church. I was floored. You want to trust people and good human nature.”

The couple volunteered at the church, often leading adult groups and handling technology for services.

While they never were employed by the church, Hobbs said, Terry Schneider was reimbursed for technical-assistance calls.

Terry Schneider has been under investigation by the FBI since September 2009, when another witness found a hard drive, owned by Schneider, that allegedly contained child pornography, according to officials.

After the yearlong investigation yielding a computer and hard drive, Terry Schneider was arrested and arraigned in Fresno on Aug. 26.

He was released to the custody of his wife and placed under home confinement, according to U.S. District Court spokeswoman Lauren Horwood.

Terry Schneider was charged with one count of receipt or distribution of sexually explicit material involving a minor and possession of sexually explicit material involving a minor. He admitted to downloading the material, according to court papers.

He faces 30 years in prison and $500,000 in fines.

Following the discovery of the video in the Spaite home, Terry and Nicole Schneider were arrested on suspicion of possession, distribution and production of child pornography.

They are scheduled to appear at a detention hearing today to determine whether they are eligible for bail or can be released on their own recognizance.

In an interview with investigators, according to court documents, Nicole Schneider admitted that the physical interaction with the child was wrong. She said she asked her husband to throw away the video several times, the documents state.

“It’s just so sad. You want to protect children, and we could never have seen this coming,” Hobbs said. “Hopefully, anyone else that may have been hurt by these people can come forward and seek counseling.”