A Holstein man who committed sex-offender registry violations over a two-month period earlier this year received a suspended sentence Tuesday in Buena Vista County District Court.
37-year-old Zachary Schmidt previously pleaded guilty to Child Endangerment, a class D felony…and Failure to Comply With Sex Offender Registry Requirements 1st Offense, an aggravated misdemeanor. The State argued for an indeterminate five-year prison term, but the judge granted a suspended sentence, and placed Schmidt on probation with the Iowa Department of Corrections for five years on the Child Endangerment charge. He was also sentenced to 120 days in jail for registry violation.
An investigation by the Newell Police Department led to Schmidt being arrested and booked into the BV County Jail on April 11th. Schmidt took an 11-year-old girl, his non-biological child, to the father-daughter dance in Storm Lake in early March. A decade ago, Schmidt was convicted of 1st Degree Sexual Assault in Nebraska. Due to that, he was subject to employment and residency restrictions, and couldn’t legally take part in the father-daughter dance.
Schmidt was also found to be living at a residence in Newell which was within two-thousand feet of the Newell Fonda school building, as well as Mustang Daycare. He also did not notify the BV County Sheriff’s Office that he was living at that address within the required time.
