LANCASTER – A 46-year-old man pleaded no contest Monday to multiple felony counts for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old Lancaster girl he met via Facebook in 2012.
Jury selection had already begun for the trial of Michael Scheetz of Westerville, Ohio, when he entered his plea to seven of eight counts – two counts of committing a lewd act on a child and one count each of forcible rape, meeting a minor for lewd purposes, contact with a minor for sexual offense, attempted kidnapping to commit another crime and criminal threats.
One count of kidnapping to commit another crime is expected to be dropped when Scheetz is sentenced.
Detectives said Scheetz traveled from Ohio to Lancaster in late September of 2012 for the express purpose of meeting the girl for sex, even though he knew she was underage.
Testifying at a preliminary hearing in October of 2012, the victim said ran away from a local group home and met up with Scheetz behind the Burger King on Avenue I and 13th Street West in Lancaster. She said the two walked over to the University of Phoenix’s Lancaster campus on Avenue J, where Scheetz raped her.
After the victim was reported missing, investigators “pinged” the victim’s cellphone and found Scheetz talking on the cellphone, Lancaster sheriff’s deputy Brian Clinkscales said at a preliminary court hearing.
Scheetz initially tried to lie to detectives, but he eventually directed deputies to the victim, according to court testimony from sheriff’s detective Bradley Feehan.
“She started crying and said, ‘he raped me,’” Feehan testified. [Read more here.]
Scheetz has been jailed since his 2012 arrest on $1.275 million bail.
He is expected to be sentenced July 17 to 26 years and two months in state prison and ordered to register for life as a sex offender, according to Deputy District Attorney Jon Hatami.
[City News Service contributed to this report.]
Previous related stories:
Alleged facebook rapist headed to trial
Ohio man arrested for lewd acts with Lancaster girl he met on facebook
Max says
I wonder if our Senator Sharon Runner would like this guy to retire to the Antelope Valley after his prison term. When she was defending her bill AB 54 in the Senate Public Safety Committee yesterday (that would virtually banish sex offenders from big cities containing many schools and day cares), she told the committee that housing costs are lower in the Antelope Valley and that the large rural area would provide a much better space for them to live.
Desiree says
When I was 15, I met a 19 year old and KNEW EXACTLY what I was doing. My mom begged me, chased me, pleaded with me and at my age, I told her to “F” off. Thank God I grew up and I could never imagine hurting my mom the way I did when I was 15 BUT I CLEARLY KNEW what I was doing. Girls know what they are doing at 15 and though they are a little naïve, we can’t keep making excuses for them either. What this man did was wrong. It was wrong that he took a 15 year old girl, and raped her. He will get the punishment he deserves and thank goodness he will be off the streets forever. But I would really love to see laws changed regarding these teenagers who put themselves in this position. There also has to be punishment for them; mandatory therapy, something to push them to know that they can’t do these things. There is too much education in today’s society to make excuses for them. Young girls: when you put yourself out there, there is danger lurking. You can’t meet men on the internet and not expect to get raped. If you are reading this and you are 15, do NOT meet up with any man on the internet because if you do, they will rape you. NEVER put yourself in situation where a person can hurt you. An older man who takes interest in you (A 15 year old) ONLY wants you for sex and rape as you have heard on the news and read in the papers and learned at school and on the internet. Protect yourself from these rapist so that you are not a victim of such a horrible crime. No girl or boy deserves to be hurt in anyway and my heart goes out to this girl. Obviously she has already had a tough life and she doesn’t deserve harm but it is my hope that she has learned from this and that she will go to schools and speak to other young girls AND boys about the dangers of meeting MEN/STRANGERS on the internet.
Sandra says
There is thirty one years age difference between the two of them.. I dont who you are or where your from that’s just wrong.
BS says
What’s this gril doing talking to a 46 yo for some time and telling him where she lives and where to meet?
Of course, she is big enough to try to make some easy money and when the man couldn’t give her what she demanded she accused him of rape As simple as that.
Desiree says
Being that he is almost 50 and she is only a teenager, he had absolutely no right having sex with her at all, be it rape or consensual sex. However, I do believe that she too should be punished for what she did as well. I understand she is in a group home and most likely already has a tough life (No fault of her own) but there should be consequences for the position she put herself in. She knew exactly what she was doing. If we didn’t live in 2015 with all the education out there then I would feel more sorry for her, but there is WAY too much education or these teenagers and they know better, unless they are from Mars of course; internet, news, schools, friends, FACEBOOK, etc. BUT LET ME MAKE IT CLEAR – he had no business taking advantage of her and JUSTICE will be served to get his nut off the streets so he can’t hurt anyone else.
Anonymous says
DJ Hernandez… Is this your cousin, brother, father, family member you feel so compelled in protecting? We’re you involved in any way, shape or form in the investigation to come to the conclusion that this girl “consented”? Did you perform her rape kit? Did you counsel her? Did you ask her how she really felt? Just for your info, in case you seemed to have missed all the info… The case was a slam dunk. He is the one that chose to take it to trial as is his right. Maybe once the jury selection started and the reality hit him that they have DNA, pictures, collaborations to the evidence, he realized he had nothing to fight for. Unless you are directly involved in the case or an eyewitness, please do not blame the media. One must beg the question as to whether you, yourself, has something to hide if you believe grown men having Sex with young adolescents and dumping them in alleys is OK. Good luck to you.
ron says
It is okay to put young adolescents (younger than this) in adult prison for life, then?
If there truly was force involved, he is a pig. But there are too many cases that are statutory in nature with minors old enough to be an adult but young enough to be a child, depending on how the State gets the most out of it. You can’t have it both ways.
Think says
While what you say (ron) about her consenting maybe true, she is still a minor and easy to manipulate and is also naive and this is why we have laws about sex with minors. This man is 46 and is an adult and knows better but moved forward with his actions. Counseling is definitely needed for both as for jail that is up for the judge and jury to decide and same with the fate of the girl. She may be put on informal probation and not allowed to use a computer until she is 18, it does happen.
Desiree says
No, it’s not okay to do what he did…at all. I hope parents will show this article to their teenagers because once a parent does and talks to their kids about it, then the teenager knows better. I hope article will save even just ONE other teenager from having to endure this. TEENAGERS: Do NOT meet men on the internet and meet them in person. If you do, you will be sexually assaulted. SO PLEASE think 15 times before doing so.
Robin says
D.J. Hernandez, once again you are showing off your “know it all” attitude. I don’t dispute that you are entitled to your opinion, I pray that nothing like this happens to someone you care about and love, because then you’ll be singing a different song.
D.J. Hernandez says
If I had daughters, I would teach them better than to go into the internet to consort with adult men to meet them for sex. She didn’t have any parents and it’s the group home that should have restricted her internet usage so the adult home is responsible also. You can’t control her desires to run after adult men but you can prevent her from having a computer to help her accomplish her task.
D.J. Hernandez says
Forty percent of the content of all news stories are fabricated lies. Twenty percent of the content of all news stories contain incomplete and misleading facts which leads the readers to make false assumptions of what they believe happened. That’s the way the media controls what they want the public to think. For a person to get the truth out of a news story he or she would have to personally interview people involved in an incident to get at the truth.
The man is being accused of rape because of the language of the law which specifically states that it is illegal to have sex with anyone under 18 years old. She wasn’t raped, she consented to sex with that man because she communicated with him and she agreed to have sex in a parking lot. She didn’t call the police to inform them that he was going to have sex with her. She sneaked out of the group home and went with him to enjoy herself and to gratify her own desires. When she was caught, she got scared and falsely accused him of rape even though the law was going to condemn him based on the language of the law regardless if she would have admitted that she consented.
Those are the real facts of the case, but if you read the article carefully, you won’t read about those facts because the article is twisted with lies and it’s missing facts which leads the reader to assume. I don’t believe most of what I read because I know that the media likes to control facts.
Stay away from minors says
Read the original article from 2012
This man is not in his right mind, and a minor has not fully developed theirs. They are still learning the way of the world and this girl was manipulated. This is why it is against the law to have sex with a minor to protect them. STAY AWAY FROM MINORS.
“He then ordered her to follow him to a tree in the middle of a field near the campus, and left her there, while he went to see if “police had followed him,” the victim testified. She said Scheetz came back with drinks, and then left again and came back with food.
Around midnight, Scheetz asked her to make love, and when she refused, he said “too bad,” the victim testified.”
haha says
There are (very civilized) places in this world where a 15 year old (14 year old) is deemed mature enough to make decisions about their own s3xuality and where a 15 year old (14 year old) would never be prosecuted as an adult for an assortment of criminal offenses.
Such a concept….
possible says
It is very possible she will not get off easy with no punishment. She maybe barred from using a cell phone or internet until she is 18 and also made to seek counseling/therapy.
Mike C says
Have fun on that level 4 yard. They are gonna beat you down so bad before they stab your a__. See ya. Wouldn’t wanna be ya.
D.J. Hernandez says
The only people who get beat down for something like that are lonely white males or isolated black males. Gang members who commit that type of crime never get beat down in prison because they get protection from their gang in prison. That’s why the Aryan Brotherhood has grown so popular in prisons across the country. White males who get tossed into prison quickly join the white power movement in an attempt to protect themselves. That’s how Charles Manson ended up with a swastika on his forehead.
Tim Scott says
And this intimate knowledge of how prison life goes comes to you from…?