Ex-youth coach sent to prison for sexual conduct with girls

A 25-year-old former youth coach must serve a minimum of 2-1/2 years in prison followed by five years on probation for a life sentence which was suspended in three felonies involving sexual contact with young girls.

Benjamin Thomas Schuler was sentenced Tuesday by District Judge Dave Gamble following an emotional hearing that included statements from the victims' parents who said their daughters were robbed of their innocence.

Schuler, formerly employed as a Douglas County School District basketball coach, originally was charged with lewdness with a child under 14, luring a child with the intent to engage in sexual conduct and luring a child.

He admitted inappropriately touching a 13-year-old girl through her clothing on Jan. 22; sending an e-mail to the same girl on Feb. 24 trying to entice her to come to his home to engage in sexual conduct; and asking a 13-year-old between Jan. 17-Feb. 5 to sneak out of her home and "hang out" with him.

Schuler said he inappropriately touched the girl through her clothing while they were on a school bus on Kingsbury Grade.

He was arrested when one of the victims' family members discovered the text messages.

Schuler had been paid a stipend by the school district to coach basketball at Pau-Wa-Lu Middle School for three years, and was a school volunteer. His contract expired at the end of the basketball season.

The father of one of the girls told Gamble that Schuler's actions had "taken a confident, outgoing kid and kind of put her in a shell."

"She's kind of withdrawn herself," the man said. "She is being harassed at school and has lost interest in sports, especially basketball which she loved."

Gamble said he wanted to make sure the victims knew they were blameless in the offenses.

"Please convey to your daughter when you think it's appropriate that there is not one iota, not one scintilla of this that's her fault. She's a girl who was taken advantage of. Anyone who harasses her for any of this should be arrested," Gamble said.

The father said if Schuler had not been arrested, he would have continued preying on young girls.

"If he hadn't got caught, he would be facing more serious charges," the man said. "The fact that he got caught stopped him. That's just not right."

Another victim's father said he preferred to settle the matter with "a tall tree and a short rope."

He said his daughter's grades plummeted from 3.5 grade point average to 1.5, she's no longer interested in sports and is afraid of men.

"Once this happens to a little girl - a 13-year-old girl - she'll deal with this the rest of her life. Her youth has been ripped away from her. She's a different person," he said.

His tearful wife told Gamble the parents were victims as well as the children.

"There's no way to describe how he has scarred her soul. She was scared. She was humiliated. He has taken her innocence. How could you do this to kids?" she asked.

Schuler's sister and parents spoke on his behalf.

"He's been a good son, a caring, loving son," said Thomas Schuler. "We are so very disappointed and deeply hurt he did these things."

They asked Gamble for leniency so Schuler "could get back on track and learn from his mistakes."

Thomas Schuler apologized to the victims' families. The girls did not attend the sentencing.

He said since his arrest, his son has been living at home and undergoing counseling.

"I am so very sorry this happened," he said. "Ben has been very remorseful, he'll break down and tell me if only he'd known some of these things before the offenses, it would have helped him. He's not taking away any of the blame."

Schuler's lawyer, Tod Young, said his client was emotionally and sexually immature.

"This was something wrong, but he had no impression of the seriousness of it," Young said. "He told investigators it had gone back several years."

Gamble brought up parts of a pre-sentence report that allege Schuler was fired as St. Gall youth director when he was 19 for having sex with a 16-year-old and lost a coaching job in Collinsville, Ill., for a similar offense.

Young said the 16-year-old was of legal age, and Schuler volunteered the information to investigators.

"Did he say those things because they were true?" Gamble asked.

"Yes," said Young.

Schuler apologized to the victims' families.

"I want you to know I am truly sorry. This was all my fault, not their fault. I understand you are angry with me. If it was my little girl, I would be just as angry. I am not proud of what I did. I will live with this the rest of my life," he said.

As a coach, Schuler said he was in a position of authority and should have known what he did was wrong.

"I am happy that I get a chance to change my life," he said. "This (behavior) is over, no matter what the incarceration."

Gamble interrupted Schuler when he characterized the offenses as mistakes.

"You didn't make a mistake. You committed about six crimes. These are offenses against humanity. This isn't forgetting to turn in a library book," Gamble said.

Prosecutor Erik Levin said he believed Schuler was a predator who was grooming young girls.

He said the psycho-sexual evaluation that deemed Schuler not at a high risk to reoffend "read like a letter of recommendation and a dime-store novel."

"I think he knew exactly what he was doing and it was legally and morally wrong. He was 24 hours away from sexual intercourse," Levin said. "One of the victims told her father she didn't feel like the same person she was before. There's no restitution you can ask for that. That damage can't be fixed."

Schuler pleaded guilty to use of a minor as a subject of a sexual portrayal in a performance, attempted lewdness with a child under 14 and attempted use of a minor as a subject of a sexual portrayal in a performance.

The first charge is a Class A felony which carried a penalty of 10 years to life in prison, plus a $100,000 fine. The other two charges are Class B felonies with penalties of 2-20 years in prison.

In crafting Schuler's sentence, Gamble said the Nevada Legislature had failed to give judges any discretion in passing judgment.

"When you bind judges without discretion, you create injustice," Gamble said.

He said Schuler's sentence reflected his disagreement with the statute and how he measured the seriousness of the offense.

He sentenced Schuler to two concurrent 2.5-7 years in Nevada State Prison for the Class B felonies

On the first count, Gamble sentenced Schuler to life with the possibility of parole after a minimum of 10 years.

He suspended the life sentence and placed Schuler on five years probation consecutive to the prison terms.

That means when Schuler is released from prison, he will be on probation for five years.

As a convicted sex offender, Schuler faces lifetime supervision and must register with law enforcement no matter where he lives.

The plea agreement includes eight pages of statutory regulations that dictate everything from housing and job requirements to Internet access.

He is forbidden to have contact with the victims, their families or anyone under age 14 who is not a family member.

Gamble gave Schuler credit for nine days in custody, but no credit for house arrest which he has served since March 3.