A man who allegedly travels between Iowa and Wisconsin is facing over 200 charges as part of a sexual assault investigation that began in Racine County several weeks ago.
The Racine County Sheriff’s Office says they responded to a complaint back on February 28, 2021 of a sexual assault in the Town of Rochester. During their investigation they learned that a woman found numerous videos on a laptop that featured herself being sexually assaulted by a man she knows, later identified as 46-year-old Shane Stanger.
“She certainly didn’t consent to what was happening to her,” says Sheriff Christopher Schmaling. “She believes that she was drugged, and believes that she was sexually assaulted, and she has the videos to prove that.”
As part of their investigation, deputies arrested Stanger and the office’s Criminal Investigations Bureau and Internet Crimes Against Children’s Taskforce conducted a forensic examination of his laptop and cell phone.
Investigators discovered a number of sexual assaults to the original victim, as well as an assault to an additional adult victim, an assault to a juvenile victim, and several videos of victims showering and/or using the restroom without their permission. The ages of the victims so far range from around 10 to 40 years old.
Sheriff Schmaling says this investigation is one of the more heinous in his 26 years in law enforcement. “This individual has taken people at their most vulnerable times. He has drugged them, he waited until they were unconscious, and then he sexually assaulted them. If it wasn’t enough after all of that, he videotaped it and saved it, I presume to view at a later time and perhaps even share. That part I don’t know, but I think everyone in our community would agree this is despicable. It’s shocking to everyone who knows this individual.”
As of Wednesday, March 24, 2021, the sheriff’s office is recommending the following charges to the Racine County District Attorney’s Office:
· 2nd Degree Sexual Assault of an Unconscious Victim (87 Counts)
· 3rd Degree Sexual Assault (4 counts)
· Possession of Child Pornography (2 counts)
· Representations Depicting Nudity, Person Under 18 (3 Counts)
· Representations Depicting Nudity (50 Counts)
· Invasion of Privacy (49 Counts)
Sheriff Schmaling says additional charges are expected from out-of-state as the investigation is ongoing with new complaints coming in. “This is just peeling back this sort of rotten onion. As we peel back the layers, we’re discovering more and more and more. I fully expect that this 200-plus count is just the tip of the iceberg. We’re going to find more and more against this pedophile.
“This sick pervert needs to be held accountable for what he has been doing to members of our community, and members of other communities, and I believe out of our state as well.”
Anyone who has more information regarding this investigation is asked to contact the following:
-Investigators assigned to the case at 262-636-3175 and 262-886-8443
-Dispatch at 262-886-2300
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