Tim Ryan, tryan@shawanoleader.com
A Shawano man arrested as part of a statewide sex sting operation rejected a plea deal Friday and was scheduled for a jury trial in July.
Richard E. Denty, 34, was charged with a felony count of using a computer to facilitate a sex crime after allegedly arranging to meet what he believed was a 15-year-old boy for sex.
Denty was one of 16 people in six northeast Wisconsin counties taken into custody in September as a result of Operation Black Veil II.
The operation originated with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force and involved undercover investigators working with local law enforcement to make online contact with suspected offenders.
Denty came to the attention of authorities after posting ads on Craigslist seeking a “casual encounter,” according to the criminal complaint.
He was contacted online by an ICAC investigator posing as a 15-year-old boy, and a meeting was arranged in the parking lot of the Crawford Center in Shawano.
Shawano County Sheriff’s deputies staked out the rendezvous spot while a Shawano police officer posed as the 15-year-old. Denty was taken into custody when he arrived.
According to the criminal complaint, Denty had a pair of handcuffs and a lubricant in his pockets when he was arrested. He told authorities he set up the meeting with the intention of discouraging the boy from meeting strangers for sex.
Denty could face a maximum 40 years in prison and $100,000 fine if found guilty. The plea offer he rejected would have capped his sentence at five years, the minimum under state statutes.
Denty is free on a $15,000 signature bond. The trial is scheduled for July 15.
In March 2013, another Shawano man, Jeffery D. Vadnais-Speck, 28, was one of 17 arrested statewide as a result of the first Operation Black Veil. His case is scheduled for a review hearing on Thursday and a possible jury trial next month.
If it goes forward, it would be the first time a charge of using a computer to facilitate a sex crime has gone before a jury in Shawano-Menominee County Circuit Court.