Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
Five people were nabbed over the past several days in Shawano County’s latest Internet sex sting operation, including one suspect who led authorities on a high-speed chase Wednesday morning.
All of the arrests came as a result of undercover sheriff’s detectives posing as juveniles on the Internet.
The suspects allegedly engaged in email or text exchanges with the supposed children and arranged to meet with them for sex, according to authorities. They were taken into custody when they arrived for the rendezvous.
Most were arrested without incident, but a 36-year-old Lena man who showed up about 10 a.m. Wednesday at the arranged meeting spot apparently realized what was going on and fled, driving across lawns to elude the squad cars that had him boxed in, according to sheriff’s officials.
He led authorities on a chase that reached speeds of 100 mph down state Highway 22 into Waupaca County, traveling through Clintonville and Marion as Waupaca County sheriff’s deputies and Clintonville police joined the chase, before taking the pursuit along side roads back into Shawano County.
Authorities contacted him via cell phone during the pursuit and persuaded him to surrender. He was taken into custody around 10:30 a.m.
Charges in his case have not yet been filed. The Leader does not identify suspects until they have been charged.
Sheriff’s detectives, in partnership with Shawano police, began this latest sting operation on Dec. 3.
On Dec. 4, authorities arrested three people who had allegedly arranged and showed up for sexual rendezvous with what they believed were going to be 15-year-old girls.
One of those — a 17-year-old Kenosha male — was detained and released. That case was forwarded to the district attorney’s office for further review, the sheriff’s department said.
A fourth man was taken into custody on Dec. 5.
Charges of using a computer to facilitate a sex crime were filed this week against James D. Forbes, 36, of Green Bay; Brian Paschall, 26, of Neenah; and Matthew Zweiger, 36, of Neenah. Each could face 40 years in prison and a $100,000 fine if convicted.
All three were ordered held on $2,500 cash bonds.
Zweiger is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Thursday. Paschall and Forbes are scheduled for adjourned initial appearances Monday.
The sheriff’s department, as part of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, has conducted multiple operations over the past three years, resulting in more than two dozen arrests in Shawano County.
The resulting arrests all garnered attention in the media, and some of the suspects were even aware of previous sex sting operations, according to text messages they exchanged with the detectives.
Even so, according to authorities, they continued to make arrangements with supposed juveniles to come to Shawano County for purposes of sex; something local investigators say they find frustrating.
“No matter how hard we work or how much time we put into this, it’s not getting better or slowing down,” Shawano County Sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Gordon Kowaleski said.
“This is truly getting insane,” he said. “At what point do they cease coming?”
Sheriff Adam Bieber said the recent arrests show that not only are there predators on the Internet looking to victimize children, but they also are willing to travel great distances to do so.
“Throughout Wisconsin, the Internet is being used as a tool by opportunistic offenders,” he said in a news release.
“The Shawano County Sheriff’s Office and its partner agencies, including the Shawano Police Department, are doing our utmost to interdict predators and send a clear message that if you come to Shawano intent on having illicit contact with our children, we will likely be waiting for you when you arrive,” Bieber said.