Teacher to go on trial for sex charges
Catherine
March 24, 2006
To the students and parents at Spring Lake Park High School:
The Anoka County Sheriff's Department informed me that Mike Schleicher, Spring Lake
Park High School band director currently on administrative leave, has been arrested.
Further, I was told that he was charged on Friday, March 24 with two counts of first
degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of solicitation of a minor.
You may recall that this story began several weeks ago when, on Thursday, March 2,
the Anoka County Sheriff's Department notified the school of allegations involved Mr.
Schleicher and a former student who is now an adult. At that time, search warrants
were issued and the school was informed that an inverstigation was moving forward. A
letter was sent to high school families, explaining the details as they were known at
that time.
Mr. Schleicher was immediately placed on administrative leave by the school district
on March 2, pending the outcome of a criminal and school district investigation.
Mr. Schleicher will continue to be on administrative leave in accordance with state
law. The district will continue to cooperate with law enforcement personnel.
Further action by the school district is yet to be determined, but will be reported
to you when it is.
Mr. Schleicher was appointed band director at the high school in 1979, serving in
this capacity for 29 years. He taught music at Westwood Junior High for
four-and-a-half years prior to moving to the high school.
As I stated in my previous letter to students, parents, and staff, if you have any
questions related to safety and security, or to the well-being of students, please do
not hesitate to contact the school, contact me personally, or contact a trusted staff
member.
As always, I encourage parents to talk to their sons and daughters about serious
topics such as this. Some students may be in need of a sympathetic ear or an
understanding adult to talk to a time like this.
Again, thank you for your patience, understanding, and cooperation as we work through
this difficult issue while striving to keep all else as normal as we possibly can.
<sig>
Glenn Martin, Principal
Spring Lake Park High School
http://www.kstp.com/article/stories/S17783.html?cat=1
Teacher to go on trial for sex charges
Updated: 07/24/2006 09:45:19 AM
<::photo::> Michael Schleicher
ANOKA, Minn. (AP) - A long-time band director at Spring Lake Park High School is set
to go on trial today to face charges he had sex with one of his students.
Michael Schleicher is charged with having a sexual relationship with a girl in the
1990s. Court documents say the relationship began when the girl was 14 years old.
He has pleaded NOT guilty and faces as many as 30 years in prison if convicted.
The girl -- now in her 20s -- has told investigators that it started with Schleicher
giving her back rubs and evolved from there. She could have to testify during the
trial.
Spring Lake Park High School officials suspended Schleicher in March after he was
charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct. He was fired in June.
---
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/local/14882095.htm?source=rss&channel=t
wincities_local
Posted on Fri, Jun. 23, 2006
Band director recounts search
Suspect's lawyer challenging police actions in child-sex case
BY EMILY GURNON
Pioneer Press
The Spring Lake Park high school band director charged with having sex with a former
student spoke for the first time in court on Thursday, saying he was scared and
intimidated when authorities showed up en masse to search his Ham Lake home on March
2.
Michael William Schleicher, 56, told the Anoka County District Court that he was
restricted from moving freely about the house that day and that several police
vehicles blocked his driveway. He added, however, that he knew he could leave at any
time.
At issue in the contested omnibus hearing, scheduled to continue today, is whether
Schleicher was "in custody," which would mean he should have been read his rights.
There is no dispute that he was not read his rights.
If, in fact, he was "in custody," the court must suppress the recorded interview
between Schleicher and investigators on the day they executed the search warrant, his
attorney, Carl Newquist, told Judge Jenny Walker Jasper.
The 33-year [sic] band director was charged March 24. He posted bail that same day.
He faces two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, two counts of
third-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of solicitation of a child.
The solicitation charge stems from Schleicher's alleged Internet chats with a law
enforcement official posing as a 13-year-old girl.
The other charges involve allegations that Schleicher was sexually involved with a
student in the mid-1990s, beginning when the girl was 14.
Anoka County prosecutor Paul Young argued Thursday that Schleicher was never in
custody on March 2.
He called as witnesses two law enforcement officers, who testified that Schleicher
was told he was not under arrest and could leave the home at any time — though his
movements within the home were restricted to preserve evidence and protect the
officers. He never asked for a lawyer, the witnesses said.
But Schleicher's attorney asked witnesses, including the defendant's wife, Mary,
about the "cavalcade of law enforcement vehicles" pulling up to the defendant's home,
the 10 to 12 officers who showed up to assist with the search, and the 90-minute
interrogation of Schleicher at his kitchen table.
How did he feel about all this, Newquist asked his client.
"I was scared," Schleicher said. "Having that many officers in my home with weapons
was intimidating."
Newquist repeatedly cited one question from Schleicher's interrogation, a statement
by Anoka County sheriff's investigator Brian Podany: "I gotta make sure you're being
honest with us -- do you understand what I'm saying?" Schleicher said his reaction to
that statement was fear.
Young asked the band director if he had, in fact, lied during the questioning that
day. Schleicher said he had. He told investigators initially that the student he was
allegedly involved with was fictional, but then admitted she was a real person.
His trial is scheduled for July 24.
Andy
Narcissist - defeats another evil-doer!
Well, not actually.....