June 26, 2009
Ex-county commissioner pleads guilty to sexual assault
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ELKINS, W.Va. -- A former Randolph County commissioner faces up to five years in prison after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting a teenage girl.

Walter Schmidlen pleaded guilty Wednesday in Randolph Circuit Court to a felony sexual assault charge and a misdemeanor sexual abuse charge. Schmidlen, 43, told the court that a teenage girl performed a sex act on him and that he touched her.

He faces up to five years in prison on the felony charge and up to 90 days in jail on the misdemeanor.

Schmidlen is being held at Tygart Valley Regional Jail while he awaits sentencing. Circuit Judge Jaymie Godwin Wilfong has not set a sentencing date.

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Posted By: savvylady (9:53am 06-26-2009)
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Unfortunately, sex offenders usually get slapped on the wrist and returned to society to live among us and our children. I know all too well as my daughter was sexually assaulted by not one, but two men in Kanawha County in 2004 and they plead guilty to the heinous crime (my daughter was 11 at the time). Guess what good ole' Judge Stucky did. Gave them 6 months of basically boot camp and then probation. WOW - amazing to me that judges are so lenient with sexual offenders and predators. I hope Judge Wilfong throws the book at this guy because I also know that Randolph County does their job in terms of appropriate sentencing and they do not care if he was a former commissioner. Kanawha County's judicial sytem sucks! I'm glad this case in Randolph County jurisdiction and not here or Judge Stucky or some other Kanawha County Circuit judge would slap him on the wrist and then take him to lunch with his defense attorney.

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