July 26, 2021 at 2:42 p.m.
Augusta man sentenced to 7 1/2 years prison for ICAC conviction
Augusta man sentenced to 7 1/2 years prison for ICAC conviction
Arron C. Schultz was charged March 12 with attempted sexual assault of a child under 16 years of age (lifetime supervision of serious sex offenders, repeater) and use of a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, (repeater, lifetime supervision of serious sex offenders). According to court records, Schultz traveled to Rhinelander to meet a person he believed to be a 15-year-old female for sex. The person he was communicating with was actually an Oneida County sheriff's detective sergeant. He was arrested when he arrived at the arranged meeting place.
Schultz was bound over for trial after he waived his right to a preliminary hearing March 26. He entered not guilty pleas at arraignment April 5 and requested a speedy trial through his public defender Elizabeth Svehlek.
On June 8, an Oneida County jury needed just 25 minutes to reach guilty verdicts on both counts. The panel also agreed the case warranted Schultz being placed on lifetime sex offender supervision.
At the July 21 sentencing hearing, assistant district attorney Jillian Pfeifer asked Branch II circuit judge Michael Bloom to sentence Schultz to 10 years in prison and 10 years extended supervision on each count, to be served concurrent to each other but consecutive to any other sentence he is serving. She also asked Bloom to impose the lifetime sex offender supervision.
Her rationale was that Schultz has a prior child sex offense on his record. According to online court records, he pled no contest in 2003 in Trempealeau County to second degree sexual assault of a child. Schultz, who was 18 at the time, received a withheld sentence, was placed on probation for 4 years and ordered to serve 90 days in the county jail. He was not ordered to register as a sex offender.
Pfeifer also noted that Schultz has a long list of other criminal convictions since 2003.
"All of those factors, in the state's opinion, are aggravating," Pfeifer said. "I think it all goes to the character of the defendant and the gravity of the offense."
Svehlek questioned the ADA's sentencing recommendation.
"The court knows that the public defender's office has been handling many of these ICAC cases. And of the many ICAC cases I've handled, not one of them had the same ask for more than the five in," Svehlek said.
While her client's past record is noteworthy, the fact that Schultz was able to successfully complete extended supervision in December 2020 for a 2013 conviction is a factor in his favor, she said. He entered rehab and for over a year was able to stay away from methamphetamine, she said.
"He had the cat by the tail, he was doing great. He was employed, he had a significant other in his life. I read the text messages between those two when I got the cellphone records dump in which they express great love for each other," Svehlek said. "And one day, he got high before he went to work, went on a 2-day bender and ended up here."
She again reiterated that this case and this defendant didn't warrant 10 years behind bars. Svehlek also noted Bloom has discretion on the lifetime supervision enhancer and asked him to not impose it.
Given his turn to speak, Schultz apologized for his behavior, and told Bloom that a moment of weakness sent him down the path that led to the "underage girl."
"The man who was arrested, and very intoxicated, is not the same man who is sitting in this courtroom today," Schultz said. "Unfortunately, for the last nine years, when I wasn't incarcerated, I was abusing meth. I allowed the drug to take over my life, it pushed my family away, I became a horrible father who only cared about myself."
He then told the judge about his history, most of it drug-related. He also spoke with pride about going into rehab two years ago and then 1 1/2 years of sobriety that ended, he said, when he caught his fiancee talking to another man. This led to a 2-day binge of drinking and meth use, he said.
"Then I did the most horrible, disgusting, monstrous thing I could have ever done, and that was to go meet an underage girl," Schultz said.
Bloom said that while Schultz claims to have been intoxicated at the time of the electronic communications with the detective, the content of those messages suggests he was aware of what he was doing.
"There are people who can be intoxicated to the point where they're not really operating in any sort of coherent or rational way," Bloom said. "That wasn't apparently the case with you, given the evidence that has been presented in this case regarding the text messages and whatnot."
When he was presented with the message from the "girl" he was texting stating that she was only 15 years old, Schultz should have immediately broken off the communication, he added.
"That's all society is asking," Bloom noted.
He agreed with Pfeifer that Schultz's criminal history and the gravity of the offense in this case do rise to the level of where "it reflects on your character and the need to protect the public." While he determined that more than the mandatory 5-year minimum prison sentence was in order, he did not conclude that Schultz should be subject to lifetime supervision.
He then handed down the 15-year sentence with Schultz to receive credit for 133 days served.
Jamie Taylor may be reached via email at [email protected].
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