A Nebraska man who posed as a excessive schooler for 2 months to sexually abuse youngsters was sentenced on Wednesday to serve the remainder of his life in jail, KOLN reported.
Zachary Scheich, a 27-year-old who stands at 5 toes, 4 inches tall and weighs simply 120 kilos, in line with Nebraska station KLKN, pretended to be a 17-year-old pupil at Southeast Excessive College and Lincoln Southeast Excessive College named “Zak Hess” for 54 days in 2023.
Scheich, who graduated from Southeast in 2015, was arrested in July 2023 after authorities discovered he was attending courses on the public colleges and engaged in inappropriate relationships with minor college students.
Investigators mentioned he requested “pornographic materials” and intercourse from a 13-year-old woman and despatched specific messages to a 13-year-old and a 14-year-old pupil.
“He focused, groomed and lured them through social media,” Deputy County Legal professional Amber Scholte mentioned throughout his sentencing. “He did so below the guise of being their peer, their good friend, and in some circumstances, their boyfriend. “And he did so for his personal sexual objective and gratification.”
Scholte added that Scheich is a “predator of the worst variety.”
The person fabricated paperwork and an “elaborate backstory” to move as a fellow teenager, prosecutors mentioned.
An affiliate of his, 23-year-old Angela Navarro, was additionally arrested in September 2023 on suspicions of serving to Scheich get enrolled by posing as his mom below the alias “Danielle Hess.”
“Police mentioned that when they’d found Scheich’s fictitious id, they contacted Navarro on June 1, 2023, who insisted on their false identities,” KOLN reported.
Scheich was sentenced to serve 85 to 120 years behind bars, to be eligible for parole after 41 years, on two counts of kid enticement with digital communication gadget, two counts of first-degree sexual assault/forcible touching, and an try of sophistication two felony.
He initially confronted 9 felonies however took a plea deal in July to do away with a few of them.
“They knew to not communicate with an grownup male on social media. They knew to not meet an grownup male by themselves, they knew how you can defend themselves in opposition to that sort of hazard,” Decide Darla Ideus mentioned in the course of the Wednesday listening to.
“They didn’t know how you can defend themselves in opposition to you. As a result of once more, they thought you had been their peer. Their good friend. And since you gained their belief.”
Scheich’s alleged confederate, Navarro, has pleaded not responsible to felony legal impersonation and was launched from jail after $450 bail in April, the New York Put up reported.
KOLN additionally reported that the crimes value the Lincoln Public Faculties district $6,000.
“In gentle of this incident, LPS is reviewing our enrollment procedures,” the district mentioned in an announcement obtained by KLKN after Scheich’s arrest.