Kevin Murphy, Leader Correspondent
A Keshena man pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court to having sex with a 13-year-old girl in June.
Matthew T. White Jr., 27, faces up to 15 years in prison, but the federal prosecutor will recommend White serve two years in exchange for his guilty plea. The recommendation also was based on White’s lack of prior convictions and his cooperation with authorities, according to the 12-page agreement.
White will be sentenced Dec. 29 by District Judge William Griesbach.
According to court documents, authorities began investigating when the girl’s father reported her missing on June 20. The girl returned the next day and told her mother where she had been. The girl’s mother contacted the Shawano County Sheriff’s Department, and the girl was transported to the Willow Tree Child Advocacy Center to be examined and interviewed.
The girl told authorities that White picked her up on the Stockbridge-Munsee Indian Reservation, bought alcohol at a convenience store and took her to a trailer on a lakefront lot his family owns on the Menominee Indian Reservation. They drank the liquor and engaged in sex, she said, according to court documents.
On June 29, FBI and Menominee Tribal Police spoke with White. He said the girl contacted him by Facebook on June 20, asking him to pick her up. White also admitted to buying liquor and having sex with her in the camper.
White told interviewers that he believed the girl was 14 years old.
White was charged with child abuse and ordered into custody on July 22 by Magistrate James Sickel.
White’s trial was scheduled for Sept. 26, but with a guilty plea becoming more likely, Griesbach removed the trial from the court’s calendar on Sept. 9.