Teacher admits to sex crimes - Band director preyed on student (MN)
Catherine
nnel=twincities_education
Teacher admits to sex crimes
Band director preyed on student
BY DAVE ORRICK
Pioneer Press
A former Anoka County band director pleaded guilty Tuesday to having sex with a
student and soliciting an underage girl over the Internet.
For the first time, Michael William Schleicher, a longtime band director for Spring
Lake Park High School, publicly said he used his position of authority to help seduce
the then-freshman in the 1990s.
Under a plea agreement submitted to Anoka County Judge Michael Roith and in
statements in court, Schleicher, a 56-year-old, married Ham Lake resident, agreed to
a prison term of 7 years and 7 months for committing first-degree criminal sexual
conduct. The relationship began in the early 1990s when the girl was 14.
At the time it made her feel special, but the relationship continued for several
years. As she grew into adulthood she came to believe the man she had respected had
preyed on her innocence, according to transcripts of earlier police interviews with
her.
The Pioneer Press is not naming the woman, now in her late 20s and living elsewhere,
in accordance with its policy regarding alleged victims of sex crimes. She declined
to comment Tuesday.
Schleicher also pleaded guilty to solicitation of a child in February and March of
this year. In court Tuesday, he said he masturbated in front of a Webcam while
corresponding with someone he believed to be a 13-year-old girl. He used the handle
"mrholland2005," an apparent reference to the feature film "Mr. Holland's Opus," in
which Richard Dreyfuss played a school band director. He isn't likely to serve
additional prison time for that charge, according to the plea agreement.
In fact, the person on the other end of the Internet connection was a man from the
Cayman Islands who was trolling chat rooms for adults preying on children.
The man alerted Minnesota authorities, who assumed the role of the girl. When police
busted Schleicher on that matter, they learned of his relationship with the former
student.
Spring Lake Park High School officials suspended Schleicher in March and sought to
fire him after he was charged. The termination became official June 13 after
Schleicher withdrew his request for a hearing guaranteed by state law, superintendent
Don Helmstetter has said.
Investigators apparently assembled a list of students to question, to see whether
other allegations of wrongdoing surfaced against Schleicher, according to public
records. They have not accused him of inappropriate conduct with anyone else.
Schleicher didn't say much in Tuesday's proceeding. Roith, prosecutor Paul Young and
Schleicher's attorney, Carl Newquist, asked him questions and he generally answered
yes or no.
Roith scheduled a Nov. 11 sentencing hearing, during which he will rule on whether to
accept the plea agreement.