Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
JEFFERY VADNAIS-SPECK
A Shawano man who was the first to be arrested in Shawano County as part of a statewide sex crime sting operation four years ago was arrested again Friday in a similar sting operation.
Jeffery D. Vadnais-Speck, 31, holds the distinction of being both the first and the 57th person arrested in the county for allegedly using a computer to set up a sexual rendezvous with a child, according to authorities.
He had an initial appearance in Shawano-Menominee County Circuit Court on Tuesday and was ordered held on a $25,000 cash bond.
He faces two felony counts of child enticement, including one count that alleges he offered to either give or sell drugs to the child he planned on meeting.
Shawano County authorities have repeatedly expressed amazement over the past four years that suspects continue to respond to the sting operations in spite of the media publicity such operations have gotten.
According to Sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Gordon Kowaleski, this might be the first time a suspect has been arrested twice in sting operations.
“Maybe it’s happened somewhere else in the country, but I’ve never heard of it before,” he said.
Kowaleski said the incident underlines the reason law enforcement agencies conduct such operations.
“It shows the continued need for vigilance,” he said.
Vadnais-Speck was one of several suspects caught up in the sheriff’s department’s most recent sting operation.
The operations originated as part of the national Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which involves detectives posing as juveniles on the internet and either posting or responding to ads on websites such as Craigslist.
Once contact is made, communications eventually turn sexually graphic in nature and the suspects arrange to meet for a sexual rendezvous, even though the detectives have made clear they are underage.
The men are taken into custody when they arrive.
Text and email messages between suspects and the supposed juveniles have shown an increasing awareness of the sting operations, with suspects often wanting to take steps to ensure that the child they’re communicating with isn’t really a law enforcement officer.
According to the criminal complaint, Vadnais-Speck went as far as acknowledging he had been caught in a previous sting.
“I just wish there was a better way to prove that either of us is not a cop,” Vadnais-Speck allegedly wrote in one of his texts. “I’m not not doing anything with anyone under 18 unless you can prove you’re not a cop.”
District Attorney Greg Parker highlighted those exchanges in court Tuesday.
“Obviously he’s had some experience at this type of violation, so he kind of knew the drill,” Parker told the court.
Vadnais-Speck was on probation at the time of his arrest Friday from his previous convection, which included prohibiting him from using any device that could access the internet.
Originally charged with using a computer to facilitate a sex crime after his arrest in 2013, Vadnais-Speck pleaded no contest to a lesser felony charge of child enticement-sexual contact and was sentenced to a year in jail as a condition of four years’ probation.
The criminal complaint in that case alleged that Vadnais-Speck was sending sexually explicit text messages to what he thought was a 15-year-old boy, but was actually an undercover officer.
The ICAC officer, from the Ashwaubenon Police Department, had responded to a Craigslist ad allegedly placed by Vadnais-Speck. The officer identified himself as a 15-year-old boy, according to the complaint.
The complaint alleges Vadnais-Speck arranged to meet with the supposed 15-year-old and asked him to bring along an older friend. The officer responded he would bring along a 16-year-old boy.
The information was passed along to Shawano police, who posed as the teens and arrested Vadnais-Speck at the rendezvous spot.
The criminal complaint filed Tuesday alleges Vadnais-Speck began communicating with what he believed was a 15-year-old girl on May 17 and continued for two days before his arrest.
He is charged with two counts of child enticement, each of which carries a maximum 25 years in prison and $100,000 fine if found guilty. He is also charged with a misdemeanor count of resisting an officer.
He is scheduled for an adjourned initial appearance Tuesday.