John Schwarz (Two Rivers Police Department).
John Schwarz, the owner of Wisconsin haunted house Scare USA, acted incredulous last year when a detective with the Two Rivers Police confronted him with charges that he sexually abused a minor. Raw interrogation footage obtained by Law&Crime shows him shaking his head, and later, after the investigator left the room, the defendant muttered, “Who the f— is making this s— up?” (At about minute 5 of the first video below.)
But Schwarz would go on to plead no contest on Oct. 16 to amended charges, online records show. His 369 days credit for time served covered his nine-month sentence for the misdemeanor charges — sexual intercourse with a child 16 or older and 4th-degree sexual assault. He must still serve five years of probation for causing mental harm to a child, which is a felony. The prosecution moved to dismiss a charge of repeated sexual assault of the same child.
By pleading no contest, Schwarz fell short of admitting responsibility, but as far as Manitowoc County courts are concerned, he’s guilty.
Back in 2023, the detective read Schwarz his Miranda rights and the interview basically ended when he acknowledged that he would need an attorney. When the defendant asked for more information on the abuse claim, the detective told him she could not speak to him without his lawyer present. The interrogation footage ends with police putting him in handcuffs.
In a statement read by a prosecutor at the plea hearing last month, the victim described himself as becoming a “shell of his former shelf” because of the abuse and court process, according to Fox Green Bay affiliate WLUK. He asked that Schwarz serve prison time.
“Nobody deserves to go through the amount of pain I have endured,” he said.
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