Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
Charges were filed Friday against the fifth suspect nabbed in Shawano County’s latest Internet sex sting operation.
Jason J. Pfeiffer, 36, of Lena, was arrested Wednesday after attempting to flee from authorities when he showed up for what he allegedly believed was going to be a sexual rendezvous with a 15-year-old girl.
Pfeiffer sped off when he saw a sheriff’s squad behind him, according to the criminal complaint, driving across lawns to elude the squad cars that had him boxed in.
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.
Pfeiffer could face a maximum 40 years in prison and $100,000 fine if found guilty of using a computer to facilitate a sex crime.
He is also charged with child enticement, which carries a possible maximum of 25 years in prison and a $25,000 fine.
He was ordered held on a $25,000 cash bond and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Wednesday.
Pfeiffer was one of five arrested during the sting operation conducted by sheriff’s detectives, in partnership with Shawano police, that ran from Dec. 4-9.
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.
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.
A 17-year-old Kenosha male was also taken into custody, but later released. That case was forwarded to the district attorney’s office for further review, the sheriff’s department said.