Minnesota man charged with luring boy ...

By Rachelle Blidner
New York Daily News
October 29, 2014

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/minnesota-man-charged-luring-child-sex-craigslist-article-1.1990833

Stephen Joseph Schulz, 56, is accused of trying to lure a minor for sex through Craigslist.

Minnesota man charged with luring boy for sex through Craigslist, wanted to be his ‘mentor’: defense attorney

A Minnesota man who is accused of trying to lure a minor for sex through Craigslist was trying to protect the boy from the same kind of abuse he suffered as a child, his attorney said Monday.

Stephen Joseph Schulz, 56, is on trial in Ramsey County District Court after allegedly arranging to meet up with someone he thought was a 15-year-old boy, but who was really an undercover St. Paul police officer.

Schulz was charged with sexual soliciting a child via the Internet in April 2013.

Defense attorney Paul Engh said Schulz "wanted to meet the child, mentor him and prevent another tragedy" after being molested by a priest as a child, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Engh said Schulz was sexually abused when he was about 13 or 14 by a Roman Catholic priest from his family's church in Milwaukee. The priest allegedly molested Schulz and a friend on a trip to Geneva, Wisc., and tried to have anal sex with Schulz at a later date.

These events impacted Schulz's decision to arrange a meeting, Engh said.

In his Craiglist ads, Schulz identified himself as a 45-year-old man looking for another male and oral sex, according to a criminal complaint. The ad discussed his recent baseball trip with his son to Florida, where "some hanky panky went on."

The undercover cop was the only person to respond to his posts and arranged to meet in St. Paul.

Schulz drove 40 minutes from his home in Golden Valley to meet with who he thought was a minor, according to prosecutor Yasmin Mullings. He had time to consider his actions during and prior to the long drive there, she said.