A Hutchinson man accused of soliciting a child to engage in sexual conduct while using an online alias has pleaded not guilty.
Mitchell Alexander Schroeder, 27, made his first appearance in Le Sueur County District Court Tuesday and heard the charge leveled against him. Not much else has transpired in his court case — he was originally scheduled for his first hearing a month ago, but it was pushed back. A request for discovery of evidence has been filed. Schroeder will next appear for an omnibus hearing at 8:30 a.m. on June 18. At that time, the evidence to be used at trial will be determined.
According to an investigation, Schroeder allegedly contacted teenage girls using the alias Sneider.Mike01 on Instagram, a social media platform used for photo and video sharing, according to a criminal complaint filed in Le Sueur County Court. An investigator with the New Prague Police Department uncovered the alleged crime while looking into a report from a local family in regards to contact between the alias and a juvenile.
During the investigation, which began in January, the officer learned the alias had also been used to contact several other juvenile females age 13 to 15 in the area, and that it had come to be known as “Stalker Mike.” Conversations were started by saying “You’re cute, how old are you?” The officer ultimately linked the alias to two IP addresses in Hutchinson, believed to be connected to Schroeder.
The complaint says Schroeder told an investigator he also used the name clairencezimwater.
Schroeder said he sent photos of a sexual nature he had obtained from the internet to contacts, according to the complaint. He also said he had received approximately 12 to 24 photos of a sexual nature from females “he believed to be approximately 13 to 16 years of age, and that he had not received or sent any sexual acts involving himself or the minors.”
