January 8, 2021 at 8:28 a.m.
Arbor Vitae man sentenced to prison for nursing home sexual assault
Arbor Vitae man sentenced to prison for nursing home sexual assault
Jacob H. Schlosser was also sentenced to 15 years sex offender registration on his conviction for second-degree sexual assault (forcible fondling) of a mentally ill victim.
Schlosser was originally charged with one count of second-degree sexual assault of a mentally ill victim and one count of second-degree sexual assault in a treatment facility for allegedly fondling a dementia patient during a bath. Another count of second-degree sexual assault in a treatment facility arose after another elderly resident of the same facility told a nursing supervisor that Schlosser, who worked at the facility as a certified nursing assistant (CNA), had touched him/her inappropriately. This resulted in an amended complaint filed April 1, 2019.
Both victims died while the case was pending, and Oneida County Circuit Judge Patrick O'Melia would not allow the recordings of the second victim's interview with law enforcement officers to be introduced as evidence if the matter came to trial. This ruling led district attorney Michael Schiek to dismiss the third count.
On Sept. 8, Schlosser pled guilty to one count of second degree sexual assault of a mentally ill person, as part of a plea agreement that saw the other count dismissed.
As part of the plea agreement, both Schiek and defense attorney Elizabeth Svehlek asked that O'Melia order a pre-sentence investigation. Schiek would argue for 15 years initial confinement and 15 years of extended supervision and Svehlek would be free to argue for a lesser sentence.
At sentencing, the husband of the first victim addressed the court. He told O'Melia that he that couldn't fathom why someone would hurt his wife, and that after the assault, she would no longer tolerate people holding or touching her.
"I'm certain, or I suspect, that Jacob Schlosser shortened my wife's life," the man said.
After some technical difficulties were solved, Svehlek played a video of Schlosser and his family and friends extolling his good qualities. In the video, Schlosser did say "I definitely made a mistake."
The video's content caused one of the victim's relatives listening to the proceedings on Zoom to ask to speak. She noted that at no time in the video did she hear Schlosser accept responsibility for his actions or express any remorse.
Schlosser's sister rebutted that statement, explaining that her brother "disassociates what he did" as a result of physical and emotional abuse throughout his childhood.
Schiek argued that the gravity of the offense and the aggravated nature of the crime called for a sentence of 15 years initial incarceration, followed by 15 years extended supervision.
He talked about how this case affected the husband of the victim as much as his wife.
"In talking with him (husband) that first night, he discussed the indignity of this offense to his wife," Schiek said. "She lived a good life, she raised a family, she worked, and then to have something like this happen, the only words that I can come up with is the indignity and the vulnerability of her position."
The DA argued that Schlosser "targeted" the victim due to her mental state.
"In a statement to his friend who he'd disclosed this to (he said) that basically she wouldn't know what happened, nobody would believe her, she wouldn't recall the events because of her medical condition," Schiek said. "And I think he targeted her for that specific purpose."
He closed by calling Schlosser's behavior "unforgivable."
Citing the statements of the people in the video she played, Svehlek asked the judge to "take a different course with this young man" because he has potential." She went on to say Schlosser was "damaged" by PTSD stemming from the emotional and physical abuse he suffered as a child.
"I think there is a middle ground where my client can be rehabilitated again," Svehlek said, adding that he is "remorseful and ashamed" of his actions.
She asked O'Melia to sentence Schlosser to 10 years initial confinement and 10 years supervision, with the prison term imposed and stayed, and one year of conditional jail time.
Speaking on his own behalf, Schlosser told the husband that both of them had been through a "long and awful process."
"Mental illness is no excuse for what I did to your wife," Schlosser said. "All of this is my fault."
He added that "after today, I hope we all can be a little bit at peace."
"Because it has been a long two years," Schlosser said.
O'Melia told Schlosser's family and supporters in the courtroom and on Zoom that it appeared to him that they still don't believe the charge that Schlosser had pled guilty to actually occurred. In his view, there is clear evidence that it did happen, he added.
The judge also noted that when people lose their independence due to dementia, it makes them vulnerable.
"The whole world is getting smaller and smaller. There is no world, your world is this room," O'Melia said. "And you hope that the people in that room are there to take care of you."
In addition to the prison sentence, O'Melia ordered that Schlosser is "not to work or volunteer in any position in which he is responsible for the care of or is alone with any physically or mentally impaired individual."
Jamie Taylor may be reached via email at [email protected].
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