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Man pleads guilty to luring a minor by computer

Schroeder

A 22-year-old airman at Minot Air Force Base pleaded guilty Wednesday to a luring a minor by computer charge.

Chris-topher David Schroeder fell for a law enforcement sting in December and thought he was meeting a 16-year-old girl for sex. The Class C felony charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine, along with a requirement to register as a sex offender.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed with the court, Sgt. Jason Kraft of the Ward County Sheriff’s Department responded to an online ad on craigslist.com posted by a man who said he was looking for a “threescore or hook up.” Kraft messaged Schroeder and asked if he was serious. In his second response to the poster, Kraft, posing as the fictitious girl, claimed to be 16. Schroeder responded that he was 22.

Schroeder and the officer posing as the girl then exchanged photographs. Kraft sent Schroeder a picture of a female sheriff’s deputy that was taken when she was 16. Schroeder sent a picture of himself standing in front of a mirror without a shirt.

The two exchanged sexually explicit messages and arranged to meet in the parking lot of the North Hill Bowl on Dec. 11, 2016. Schroeder was driving his wife’s car.

Schroeder told the sheriff’s office that he came to meet the 16-year-old to tell her that she should not be on craigslist meeting people. Since he works for the Minot Air Force Base Security Forces, Schroeder claimed that he wanted to do a “reverse bust.”

Schroeder will be held at the Ward County Jail pending his sentencing. He had asked Wednesday if he could serve the time in the McLean County Jail, which is less crowded and in an area where he has relatives, but the state objected. Judge Stacy Louser ordered a psychological and sex offender evaluation for Schroeder prior to sentencing and it is more convenient for the evaluator to do the evaluation at the Ward County Jail. Louser told his attorney, Ashley Flagstad, to file a formal motion seeking to transfer Schroeder to the McLean County Jail.

The pre-sentence investigation will likely take 60 to 90 days to complete. A sentencing date is scheduled tentatively for July 14.

– Andrea Johnson

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