Judge sends 18-year-old to jail in case of extremes

Port teen went from facing felonies to a probation-only recommendation for having sex with 15-year-old girl
By 
BILL SCHANEN IV
Ozaukee Press staff

Ozaukee County prosecutors who in November charged an 18-year-old Port Washington man with three felonies accusing him of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl dropped those charges two months later and last week recommended he be sentenced to probation without jail time for two less serious crimes.

But Ozaukee County Circuit Judge Steve Cain said that recommendation “misses the mark” by not including a period of incarceration for an adult who gave a juvenile alcohol and marijuana before having sex with her.

“To not give you jail time would absolutely diminish the seriousness of your crimes,” Cain told Trenton J. Jaeger, who pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor counts of having sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old.

On one of the counts, Cain placed Jaeger on probation for two years and ordered him to serve seven months in the county jail. On the other count, he sentenced him to an additional nine months in jail but stayed it, meaning Jaeger will only have to serve that time if he violates the conditions of probation.

And while prosecutors took no position on Jaeger’s request for expungement, Cain denied it, noting Jaeger has a juvenile record and adding that society would not be well served by erasing his adult criminal record.

Prosecutors initially charged Jaeger with second-degree sexual assault, strangulation and suffocation and child enticement — the felonies that were later dropped — based on a forensic interviewer’s meeting with the girl in October 2019.

During that interview, the girl said that on Aug. 22 she was upset and that she and Jaeger, who was her friend, agreed to meet at Port Washington’s south beach. She said Jaeger brought alcohol with him and they had sex, the complaint states.

A few days later, the girl said, Jaeger took her to an apartment in Port where adults were using drugs. She said Jaeger gave her a marijuana cigarette, and after she smoked it  she felt like she was going to pass out and remembered only bits and pieces of what happened next, according to the complaint.

The girl said Jaeger took her to a secluded area and forced himself on her, the complaint states.

But during last week’s sentencing hearing, Jaeger’s lawyer, Justin Padway, said Jaeger never forced the girl to have sex, and because he was charged with three felonies, his bail was set at $25,000 and he spent roughly three months in jail awaiting a resolution to the case.

“He faced the possibility of 71 years (in prison and on extended supervision) for a crime he didn’t commit,” Padway said. “That’s a nightmare.”

Assistant District Attorney Kerra Stumbris said a message from the girl to Jaeger uncovered after he was charged left accounts of what happened open to interpretation and prosecutors may not have been able to prove Jaeger committed the most serious crimes he was charged with.

“This is a situation where the victim considers this an appropriate resolution,” Stumbris said, referring to her recommendation for probation. “She made a comment about not wanting to ruin his life.”

Padway said Jaeger and the girl were part of the same circle of friends and that they bonded over the fact they both had troubled upbringings. Jaeger offered her emotional support and eventually the relationship became sexual, albeit consensual, Padway said. 

The relationship ended after the girl’s father forbade her from seeing Jaeger, Padway said.

“The relationship ended up where they exchanged ‘I love you’ and ‘I miss you’ after these consensual acts,” he said. 

Jaeger told Cain that he loved the girl at the time.

“I just wanted to make her happy,” he said. “I knew what we were doing was wrong and I’m to blame.”

Jaeger said he is now focused on bettering himself so he can be a good father to his young daughter.

Padway noted that had the sexual encounters happened a month later, after the girl turned 16, they would not have been illegal.

That did not sway Cain.

“We live in a world where we have bright lines, and this one was crossed,” the judge said. “If you’re an 18-year-old and you’re having sex with a 15-year-old, there’s going to be consequences.”

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Wisconsin’s largest paid circulation community weekly newspaper. Serving Port Washington, Saukville, Grafton, Fredonia, Belgium, as well as Ozaukee County government. Locally owned and printed in Port Washington, Wisconsin.

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