Republicans in Cheyenne protest against registered sex…

A registered sex offender is running for trustee at Laramie County Community College, and the local Republican Party is not happy about it.

Anthony Schmidt told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday that his campaign is about showing people that a criminal past does not have to define a person forever.

“I’m not the same man I was 22 years ago,” he said. “I’ve gone to great lengths to make sure I’m not the same man.”

Schmidt pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a child in 2002.

Police arrested Schmidt, then 24, after he arranged to meet an undercover officer posing as a 14-year-old boy online. When authorities arrested Schmidt, he had condoms and lubricant in his pocket and admitted to having sex with another minor over a period of about four months earlier.

After his probation was revoked twice, Schmidt was sentenced to four to ten years in prison in 2011.

One of the revocations came when Schmidt was accused of soliciting sex from another minor in 2006. He has also been released from his sex offender treatment programs several times. In a 2011 letter, his probation officer expressed concern that Schmidt posed a danger to society because of his tendency to lie, trivialize misconduct and allow a young man to live with him against her orders.

In 2018, Schmidt was released from prison.

He described his behavior on Tuesday as that of a “young and naive” person.

How can he run?

This apology does not go down well with the Laramie County Republican Party, which condemned Schmidt’s candidacy in a statement on Tuesday.

“Schmidt’s decision to run for this important position is a direct insult to the values ​​of our community and raises serious concerns about the safety of our schools and colleges,” the party said.

Dallas Tyrrell, Republican committee chairman for Laramie County, told Cowboy State Daily that Schmidt has already had several chances to redeem himself.

“He is a repeat offender who is now trying to infiltrate a community college,” Tyrrell said. “Minors regularly attend school there.”

Nonviolent crimes in Wyoming include acts that are committed without physical force. Violent crimes in Wyoming include murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, first- or second-degree sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, strangulation of a household member, hijacking, first- or second-degree arson, aggravated burglary, and repeated domestic violence.

Under Wyoming state law, the right to vote is automatically restored to non-violent felons when their parole expires or they are released from an institution beginning in 2010.

Schmidt regained his right to vote in 2018, the same year he began serving his prison sentence.

Schmidt’s rights, including the right to serve on a jury, hold political office and own firearms, have been restored through 2023. These new rights were granted to him by a law passed in Wyoming earlier this year.

Laramie County Community College (LCCC) not only houses numerous high school students who attend college courses, but also has a daycare center.

As a registered sex offender, Schmidt still has to stay 1,000 feet away from schools. However, there is an exception to this rule if the offender is a student at a school.

This was the case for Schmidt, who graduated from LCCC in 2021. He believes a similar exemption could apply if he is elected as a trustee.

“When I was a student there, part of the requirement was that I speak to campus security and the registrar’s office to make sure I was following the rules and doing whatever I needed to do to be safe around those particular people,” he said.

Repayment?

Schmidt, who is now married, said he has paid his debt to society and learned and grown from his mistakes. He also said he never received new charges for what he was accused of when his probation was revoked by a judge.

“I violated my probation because I refused to comply with the probation rules, not because there was a new offense or charge,” Schmidt said.

But Schmidt’s probation officer made further accusations against him: he had solicited a minor for sexual intercourse, this time at the age of 28.

Schmidt said he understands the public’s concerns about his campaign, but believes they are based on misinformation about recidivism rates in society.

“You see the charge and think that’s all you are, that red mark is all you are,” Schmidt said. “We’re excluding a lot of people who could be of tremendous value to society, who have taken the steps to move forward and be that productive person.”

Schmidt’s campaign might have received a little less attention had he run for a position not tied to a school, such as city council or a planning and zoning board, but he specifically chose to run for the LCCC board because of its nonpartisan nature.

“I wanted to enter the political arena in a non-partisan way because party politics generates much more hate as you are attacked more for the party flag than for your actual political positions,” Schmidt said. “Here I speak for myself, with my personal beliefs and values.”

He also has no false illusions about his chances of winning: he estimates them to be “very low”. Schmidt is one of seven candidates competing for four seats on the board.

“I realize that even if I succeed, I’ll be under scrutiny because if I screw up, it’s not just me, it’s other people trying to improve their lives,” he said. “So I have to be above reproach.”

Partisanship

Tyrrell said the Laramie Republican Party has an obligation to publicly oppose Schmidt’s candidacy, even though he is running for nonpartisan office.

“Regardless of the position, we have an obligation to inform qualified voters about the candidates,” Tyrrell said. “Mr. Schmidt is running for a very important position and we have an obligation to inform them about his background.”

Schmidt, a registered Democrat, expressed concern about over-politicization of curriculum at LCCC. He also wants to keep the school from becoming increasingly dependent on online instruction.

He said it was hypocritical that the same group of people who opposed his campaign also supported former President Donald Trump. who was found guilty of sexual assault and convicted of 34 crimes, and awaits possible charges in additional cases. Trump has appealed all of these convictions.

“And yet they attack me, someone who has admitted his bad decisions and served his sentence,” Schmidt said.

Taft Love, chairman of the Laramie County Republican Party, said it’s simply about protecting children.

“Children are our most precious asset,” he said. “If we cannot protect them, we have failed as a society.”

Leo Wolfson can be reached at [email protected].