Two men arrested in Internet sex stings on the afternoon of New Year’s Eve were charged this week with using a computer to facilitate a child sex crime.
Jason L. Uhe, 43, of Fremont, and Michael D. Sanders, 45, of Appleton, could each face a maximum 40 years in prison and a $100,000 fine if convicted.
The arrests were the result of undercover operations conducted by Shawano County sheriff’s detectives, assisted by the Shawano Police Department.
More than two dozen such arrests have been made in Shawano County over the past three years, including seven of them in December.
The operations have involved detectives — posing as juveniles — going online to monitor chat rooms and online forums, as well as placing ads and responding to posts placed by others.
According to the criminal complaints, each of the men in last week’s arrests responded to posts placed by the detectives and started email exchanges with what they believed were 15-year-old girls.
The exchanges became sexual and sometimes graphic in nature, according to the complaints, and eventually led to the suspects attempting to set up a sexual encounter with the supposed juvenile.
The men were arrested when they showed up at the rendezvous.
The email exchanges took place over the course of several days leading up to Dec. 31. The arrests occurred within about three hours of one another.
Uhe was freed Tuesday on a $2,500 signature bond and $500 cash bond. He is due back in court on Feb. 1 for an adjourned initial appearance.
Sanders, who also faces an additional charge of child enticement, was freed on a $7,000 signature bond. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Jan. 19.
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