D.A. issues new charges for Schlager

Saturday, March 11, 2006 9:46 AM PST

Andrew Cutler Argus Observer

VALE

A Fruitland man, who pled guilty to attempted kidnapping charges Monday, has been ordered by the court to turn himself in to authorities after new information surfaced in the case.

Malheur County District Attorney Dan Norris said William Scott Schlager, 21, was charged Thursday with a single count of contempt of court after he violated his release agreement by making contact with the victim in the case. Schlager also violated a restraining order the victim had in place since last August.

Norris said Schlager was expected to turn himself over to authorities Thursday afternoon or sometime Friday.

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“The judge is sending a strong message that tampering with a witness will not be tolerated,” Norris said.

Schlager pleaded guilty to attempted kidnapping on Monday in the Malheur County Circuit Court in Vale, after negotiations reduced the charges from kidnapping in the first degree, rape in the first degree and sodomy in the first degree.

Schlager is scheduled to be sentenced on April 12.

“He's going to the sex offender treatment and the batterers program,” Norris said of the attempted kidnapping charge. “(Schlager) stipulated to 60 months (in prison) if his probation is revoked. We are anticipating he is going to get a probationary sentence.”

Schlager was taken into custody by Payette County deputies at his home in Fruitland early Dec. 15 after a woman alerted Ontario police regarding an incident near Malheur Butte.

However, prosecutors allege that Schlager made more than 100 phone calls to the victim in violation of his release agreement, and he was also in violation of a August 2005 restraining order the female had filed in Malheur County Circuit Court.

“One of the difficulties we are having is the victim, as is all too frequently the issue in a domestic violence case, had asked us to reconsider whether or not he needed to go to prison,” Norris said. “Our concern is that the 100 or so phone calls he had in violation of the court order put pressure on the victim to do that.”

Norris said the violations came to light after his office negotiated the lesser charges, which is why the DA brought the additional charges.

“Had I known he had violated the judge's order,” Norris said, “I don't think we would have negotiated in quite the same way.”

Schlager could face up to six months in jail for each time he violated the release agreement and the restraining order.