Former Franklin College President Thomas J. Minar has been offered a plea deal by prosecutors on charges related to sex crimes with a minor.
Minar was back in a Wisconsin courtroom Thursday for a status conference, where he waived his preliminary hearing on the three felony charges against him. He was fired from the college last month after his arrest in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, where he is accused of sending sexually explicit messages, including photos, to an undercover officer who was posing as a 15 year old.
The move is rare, but common in high-profile cases, or when the evidence against a defendant is substantial or overwhelming.
The Door County, Wisconsin district attorney charged Minar with child enticement, use of a computer to facilitate a sex crime and exposing a child to harmful materials, all felonies that carry a maximum sentence of 68 ½ years in prison if convicted on all counts and ordered to serve separate sentences for each, as well as up to $210,000 in fines.
Minar appeared in person at about 2 p.m. Thursday before Judge David L. Weber at the Door County Circuit Court, according to online court records. It was his second court appearance. Minar has been living in Evanston, Illinois since he was released from jail Jan. 7 on $7,500 bond, court records show.
Minar is represented by Brett Reetz, a Sturgeon Bay defense attorney. Door County District Attorney Colleen Catherine Nordin is prosecuting the case, according to court records.
Reetz said the district attorney’s office has made them a plea offer. But the details of that offer were not available Thursday.
After the status hearing, Reetz said a waiver of a preliminary hearing has nothing to do with someone’s guilt or innocence, but simply if the state can prove probability a felony was committed.
“We maintain our innocence and are ready to go forward,” Reetz said.
An arraignment is scheduled for 11 a.m. April 21.
An officer with the Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin police department said he was starting an Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force investigation on Jan. 6. The officer created a profile on Grindr, which indicated he was a 19-year-old man named Tyler.
Grindr is a social media networking app geared toward gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. The app claims it is the world’s largest for the LGBTQ community, according to its website.
About 1:30 p.m. Jan. 6, Minar, 56, who identified himself as a 53-year-old man on the messaging app, began chatting with the undercover officer, according to court documents filed in the Door County Circuit Court.
Minar exchanged messages with the officer, who eventually told Minar he was 15. Minar continued to send sexually explicit messages and photos to the officer throughout the day, and eventually arranged a meeting at a fast-food restaurant in the area, court documents said.
Police arrested Minar at the restaurant. Minar told police he was not looking for “sexual things,” and that if the conversations turned sexual, it was part of a fantasy, documents said.
He also told police nothing sexual would have occurred and that young gay men need mentors and role models. He said he started the conversations on Grindr because he was curious and bored and he thought chatting with a 15 year old could lead to conversation, friendship and education, according to court documents.
Minar said he is normally attracted to young adult men and has never been attracted to children, but he had communicated with minors using the app in the past, court documents said.
College officials were already in the process of searching for a new president. Minar announced last year he would be resigning his position in June 2020. That search is ongoing. Kerry Prather, who has served the college for 37 years as athletic director and head men’s basketball coach, is acting president.
TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students, contributed to this report.
