Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
State authorities Wednesday released details of a recent sex sting operation that netted 16 arrests, including three in Shawano County and a rural Shawano man arrested in Outagamie County.
The arrests were part of Operation Hope, a weeklong operation focused on child exploitation and online crimes in the state, according to the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force operation involved more than 30 federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies and advocacy groups, the DOJ said.
The operations involve 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.
In Shawano County, those arrested were Jeffery Vadnais-Speck, 31, of Shawano; Brandon Stewart, 22, of Green Lake; and James Stevens, 43, of Oconto Falls.
Vadnais-Speck is facing two counts of child enticement, each of which carries a maximum 25 years in prison and $100,000 fine if found guilty. He was ordered held on a $25,000 cash bond is due in court for an adjourned initial appearance Monday.
Vadnais-Speck was previously arrested in Shawano County in 2013 in a similar sex sting operation. He pleaded no contest to child enticement-sexual contact and was sentenced to a year in jail as a condition of four years’ probation.
Stewart was charged with a felony count of using a computer to facilitate a sex crime, which carries maximum possible penalty of 40 years in prison and a $100,000 fine if convicted.
Stewart waived a preliminary hearing Tuesday and pleaded not guilty. He is being held on a $7,500 cash bond and is scheduled for a pre-trial conference on June 23.
Stevens pleaded not guilty on May 23 to one count of using a computer to facilitate a sex crime, and one count of child enticement. He was ordered held on a $5,000 cash bond and is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing on Sept. 6.
In Outagamie County, authorities arrested Scott D. Lecker, 28, of Shawano, on charges of trafficking of a child, which carries a maximum possible penalty of 40 years in prison and a $100,000 fine if convicted, and child enticement-prostitution, which carries a maximum 25 years imprisonment and $100,000 fine.
Lecker was bound over for trial after a preliminary hearing May 25. He was ordered held on a $25,000 cash bond and is scheduled for arraignment on June 12.
Lecker was previously convicted in Shawano County in 2013 of two counts of possessing child pornography. Five more counts were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.
He was sentenced to three years in prison and 10 years’ extended supervision.
Other arrests as part of Operation New Hope were made in Brown, Clark, Columbia, Dane, Eau Claire, Marquette, Rock, Sheboygan, Walworth, Washington, and Winnebago counties, according to the DOJ.
Five individuals arrested during Operation New Hope were registered sex offenders or had previously been arrested for internet crimes against children-related crimes.
Charges against those arrested included possession of child pornography, exposing a child to harmful material, child enticement, use of a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, attempted sexual assault of a child, causing a child to view sexual activity, and trafficking of a child.
“I spent a large part of my career prosecuting sensitive crimes against children, and I swore to continue protecting Wisconsin’s children when I became attorney general,” Attorney General Brad Schimel said in a news release.
“ICAC operations like Operation New Hope bring together committed law enforcement and victim advocacy groups to stop the sexual exploitation and abuse of children,” he said. “Thanks to our DOJ ICAC team and partners across the state and nation, 16 predators are behind bars, ensuring children in Wisconsin are that much safer.”