Police: Man Living in Apple Valley Solicited Girl Online for Sex

A man who lived in Apple Valley in 2009 when he allegedly solicited a teenage girl online for sex is being held in jail on bond after an appearance in Dakota County Court on Thursday.

Jeffrey Todd Schuenke, 44, who was arrested in Northfield on Tuesday and booked in Dakota County Jail, is charged with seven felony counts of solicitation of a child to engage in sexual conduct, according to a Dakota County criminal complaint.

Schuenke allegedly asked an undercover South Dakota police detective posing as a teenage girl in an online chat room to perform sexual acts on multiple occasions in April 2009. The charges hold a maximum penalty of 21 years in prison and a $35,000 fine.

Schuenke is being held in Dakota County Jail on $100,000 bond, or $75,000 bond with conditions, according to jail records. Conditions include no use of the Internet without approval and no unsupervised contact with children in certain circumstances.

According to the criminal complaint, a detective with the Minnehaha County Sheriff's Department in South Dakota posed as a 14-year-old girl in an online chat room on April 10, 2009, and received a message from a user with the user name "jtschuenke."

During the chat, Schuenke allegedly asked the detective, who he thought was the 14-year-old girl, to touch and perform sexual acts on herself, and asked about her dating and sexual experience, the complaint said. He allegedly asked the girl's age, and the detective typed that she was 14.

After subpoenaing the Internet provider, police determined the user was Schuenke, the complaint said.

During a chat on April 13 between the same parties, Schuenke allegedly sent a webcam video of himself masturbating. On that date and during a chat April 23, he again allegedly asked her to perform sexual acts on herself, according to the complaint.

Police got a warrant and searched Schuenke's residence on Jan. 21, 2010, the complaint said, and found record of those chat sessions on his computer, as well as other alleged conversations of a similar nature with female minors.

When Schuenke spoke with officers during the search, he allegedly said he engaged in sexual discussions online, but not with minors, the complaint said; he allegedly said he didn't recall any of the chats with the detective, but occasionally masturbated on webcam.

On Jan. 22, 2010, Schuenke allegedly told police the webcam picture they had of a man masturbating was him, the complaint said; the complaint also said he told them, "I'm not a monster."

An omnibus hearing in Dakota County Court is scheduled for 9 a.m. on June 13.