Two men are facing felony charges of using a computer to facilitate a sex crime after being caught up in a sting operation conducted by Shawano County authorities last month.
Chester G. Kaleta, 38, of Appleton, was arrested Dec. 26 when he allegedly arrived in Shawano for a sexual rendezvous with what he believed would be a 15-year-old girl, according to the criminal complaint.
Todd W. Shewchuk, 39, of Shawano, was arrested Dec. 12 after allegedly setting up a meeting with what he believed would be a 15-year-old boy, according to his criminal complaint.
Both arrests were part of an undercover Internet chat operation conducted over several weeks in December aimed at snaring suspected sexual predators. In both cases, a Shawano County sheriff’s detective posed online as a child.
The operation was conducted under the direction of the Internet Crimes Against Children State Task Force, which has netted numerous arrests from similar operations over the past two years.
According to the criminal complaint, Kaleta exchanged texts of a sexual nature with a Shawano County sheriff’s detective starting on Dec. 11 and also sent digital images of his genitalia. Kaleta arrived for his rendezvous with a package of white roses that deputies found on the passenger seat of the vehicle, according to the complaint.
Authorities made contact with Shewchuk the same day he was arrested after responding to an ad he allegedly placed in the casual encounter section of a website, according to the criminal complaint.
The arrests bring to 12 the number of people arrested in computer sex stings operations in Shawano County over the past two years.
There have been five regional operations since fall 2012, resulting in 84 arrests in multiple counties. Shawano County authorities have also conducted several independent operations.
Kaleta and Shewchuk each face a maximum possible penalty of 40 years in prison and a $100,000 fine if convicted.
Kaleta was ordered held on a $7,500 cash bond and is scheduled for an adjourned initial appearance Jan. 12.
Shewchuk, who has pleaded not guilty, is free on a $10,000 cash bond and is scheduled for a pre-trial conference on March 4.
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