Caleb Meyer gets 36 years in prison

A 31 year-old Gleason man was sentenced to a total of 36 years in prison in Oneida County court on Tuesday, Jan. 20. 

Caleb Meyer had pled guilty on Oct. 10 to two counts of possession of child pornography, class D felonies, and one count of incest with a child, a class C felony.

Two other felonies against Meyer, child sexual exploitation and trafficking of a child, were dismissed by judge Mary Sowinski during the October court proceeding which had been scheduled as a pre-trial conference. 

Meyer’s attorney, Joseph Kaupie, submitted a plea agreement containing Meyer’s guilty pleas. 

Under terms of the agreement, Sowinski not only found Meyer guilty of the two counts of possession of child pornography as well as the incest with a child charge but she also dismissed a felony bail jumping charge against Meyer. 

Wolf in sheep’s clothing

The first nearly 90 minutes of the three-hour Jan. 20 court session centered around a request to have the court proceeding closed to the public. That request was submitted to the court on Jan. 15 by a person identified as “a representative of victim number one” primarily out of concern for privacy of the victim. 

Oneida County district attorney Jillian Pfeifer had submitted her response in opposition to the request the day before while Kaupie, who made the point more than once during Tuesday’s court proceeding the defense had not filed the request, informed Sowinski the defense was in agreement with it and presented a case in an attempt to support his argument. 

Ultimately, though, after much consideration, Sowinski, noting had there been a jury trial that would eventually at some point require victim information to be revealed, ruled the proceeding would remain open.

Once that was settled, the next phase led into Meyer’s sentencing and it began with Pfeifer going through the pre-sentence investigation (PSI) report which, like much of the complaint against Meyer, was very graphic. 

At times as Pfeifer went over the PSI and made her arguments to support her recommendation for a sentence of a total of 40 years in prison to run concurrently, Meyer, who was later given an opportunity by Sowinski to address the court, did silently react to what was being presented, hanging his head and looking at the top of the table where he and Kaupie were seated. 

In addition to the 40 years in prison, which would mean Meyer would be in his early 70s when released, Pfeifer also recommended another 26 years of extended supervision.

Kaupie, not disavowing or condoning his client’s actions as outlined in the three criminal complaints, countered with two sentencing structures, one including a recommendation of 12 years in prison and what amounted to 45 years of extended supervision and probation for Meyer, saying that Meyer was going to have be able to support his children.

As for Kaupie’s recommendation of 12 years in prison for Meyer, he said that amounted to “4,300 days.”

“4,300 mornings waking up consecutively in the Department of Corrections (DOC) as an immediate reminder of exactly why he’s there,” he said. “At the same point, it gives him an opportunity to at that point ... in his mid to upper 40s, to, as I indicated, provide for the financial support of victim one and the representative of victim one. During that time, he would also be subject to, obviously, other significant terms and conditions.” 

Once Kaupie was finished, Sowinski addressed Meyer. 

“If you had something to say to the court, now would be the time for you to do that,” she said. 

“Yes, your honor, I do,” he said. “I have it written down ... this is extremely emotional for me. The only way to start this out is to say how extremely apologetic I am for the actions that have led us here. I first want to say I’m sorry to victim one. My actions are not as a father should be.” 

Over the course of the next few minutes, Meyer, most of the time through tears, expressed regret for what he’d done and told of how he was trying to make himself a better person “and do everything in my ability to make up for my actions.”

“I know it will take a lifetime,” Meyer said. “I want to say ‘I’m sorry’ to my son. My actions are not as a father should be. It’s not how you act. You need to talk about your feelings. It’s OK to.”

He apologized in his statement to “the representative” of victim one and how he wished he would have talked to that person before about his addictive behavior and spoke of instances of trauma he experienced as a child. 

“That would have helped me,” Meyer said and he also apologized to his parents, who were among those who wrote character letters that were entered into the record on Jan. 14. 

In the end, however, Sowinski went with more time in prison for Meyer – a total of 36 years to be served concurrently – saying “the word rehabilitation doesn’t apply in this case” and in a reference to Kaupie’s 12 years in prison recommendation, also asked what sort of job Meyer would be able to get once he was released following his incarceration and the severity of the charges against him.

“No one would hire him,” she said. 

In addition to the 36 years in prison and 26 years of extended supervision, Sowinski, who at one point during the proceeding likened Meyer to “a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” ruled there is to be no contact with the victim by Meyer until allowed by the DOC and no unsupervised contact with any child except his own.

Meyer will also become a registered sex offender. 

Oneida County Sheriff Grady Hartman has 31 years in law enforcement, 29 of that with Oneida County. 

“In my 31 years in law enforcement, this is the worst case I’ve ever seen,” he said. 

Brian Jopek may be reached via email at [email protected].