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Charlene Schmitz
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Update: June 03, 2008
A Washington County teacher who tried to lure a former
student for sex will spend 10 years and a month in prison -- one month
more than the mandatory-minimum sentence -- a federal judge in Mobile
ruled Monday.
U.S. District Judge Kristi DuBose said the offense that the jury
convicted Charlene Schmitz of -- use of a computer and a cell phone to
entice a minor -- was serious. But she declined to impose an even
longer prison term sought by prosecutors.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Murphy asked DuBose for a sentence of a
month shy of 13 years, which the prosecutor said better reflected the
egregiousness of Schmitz's conduct. But she said outside the courtroom
that she was satisfied.
"The most important thing is the child feels like he's been heard and
protected," Murphy said.
Defense attorney Donald Briskman urged leniency, noting that the
federal system does not have parole. He pointed out that the
mandatory-minimum prison term for the offense was five years until
Congress raised it to 10 a few years ago.
"Ten years to a woman who is 54, 55 years of age is approaching a life
sentence," he said.
The teenager, who was 14 at the time, testified at the trial in
February that Schmitz was his eighth-grade reading teacher. He said he
drew close to the Schmitz family last year after he began dating her
teenage daughter, Tanya Thomas.
At some point, the boy said, he began an intimate relationship with
Schmitz. He did not appear at Monday's hearing, but his mother and
grandmother both testified that he told them he had sexual intercourse
10 times with the teacher -- including behind her desk at school, in
her home and near a pond on her property in Leroy.
A finding of sexual contact -- which was unnecessary to support the
enticement charge -- could have resulted in a longer sentence. But
DuBose said the issue was too important to determine without hearing
the teen's testimony and left that for state officials.
Schmitz, 55, presently faces a trial in Washington County Circuit
Court on second-degree rape and sodomy charges. District Attorney
Spence Walker could not be reached to see if he plans to follow
through with the prosecu tion in light of the federal sentence.
The victim's mother testified that she trusted her son with Schmitz
because she was a teacher. She said her son still has to contend with
snickers, questions and maltreatment in the small community.
"There's really no words to express what (he's) been through," she
said. "He's been treated more or less as the filth of the earth. ...
How can he lead a normal life?"
The child's grandmother said the teenager expressed concern about
whether the 54-year-old woman could get pregnant.
"I feel like she has left a black mark on my grandson for the balance
of his life," she said.
DuBose found that Schmitz had committed perjury during the trial when
she denied authoring numerous instant messages that investigators
traced between the teen's computer and her Yahoo account. The judge
also agreed with the prosecution's contention that Schmitz encouraged
her daughter to commit perjury.
Thomas claimed during the trial that she impersonated her mother
during the instant messaging because she suspected the teen was
interested in her mother. Those message logs formed the heart of the
prosecution's case and often contained graphic, sexual descriptions.
The defense submitted 34 letters of support from friends, fellow
teachers, relatives and supporters, including an ex-husband and an
inmate who has been incarcerated with Schmitz at the Baldwin County
Corrections Center.
Source:
http://blog.al.com/live/2008/06/teacher_gets_10_years_in_sex_c.html
Teacher arrested again for being with minor
Posted on November 29, 2007 by privateofficernews
Teacher arrested again for being with minor www.privateofficer.com
Mobile Al. Nov. 29, 2007
A 54-year-old Washington County teacher, arrested in the summer after
being accused of having sex with a 14-year-old boy, was arrested again
Friday after deputies said they found her sitting next to that boy at
a high school football game.
In July, Washington County Circuit Judge Jerry Turner set Charlene
Schmitz’s bail at $40,000 on state charges of second-degree rape and
second-degree sodomy, while barring the Leroy High School teacher from
having any contact with the student.
While in jail Tuesday awaiting a hearing on the Friday arrest, Schmitz
learned that a federal grand jury had indicted her on one count each
of enticing a child by computer and enticing a child by cell phone.
A bail revocation hearing had been set for Tuesday but was canceled
when federal authorities announced their indictment of Schmitz,
Washington County Sheriff Richard Stringer said.
The whole case began when the boy’s mother approached investigators
with a stack of sexually explicit e-mails that she claimed the teacher
had sent to her son, Stringer said.
“There were graphic exchanges about oral sex,” Stringer said at the
time of Schmitz’s June 22 arrest. “We questioned witnesses, and the
boy confessed to what was going on. He said it had been happening
since April, mostly at her residence.”
Special Agent Angela Tobon, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Mobile, said
agents arrested Schmitz on the federal charges Tuesday. Schmitz will
likely make her initial appearance before a U.S. magistrate judge
today, Tobon said.
If convicted of the federal charges, Schmitz faces 10 years to life in
prison.
Stringer said the boy’s mother was at the football game in Leroy on
Friday when she noticed her son was not where she had left him in the
stands. She also realized that Schmitz was missing from her seat.
A relative soon spotted the two sitting together and notified deputies
who were at the stadium, Stringer said. Three deputies arrested
Schmitz, who was charged with tampering with a witness, the sheriff
said.
The Press-Register on Tuesday was unable to contact District Attorney
Spence Walker or defense attorney Donald Briskman.
Schmitz remains on paid administrative leave with the Washington
County school system, pending the outcome of the cases against her,
Stringer said.
Leroy High School serves grades kindergarten through 12, and has 817
students
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