A Racine man apparently wasn't going to let the biggest winter storm of the season stop him from seeing and possibly having sex with a girl he thought was 15 years old.
Steve M. Hansen, 30, drove nearly the entire one-hour drive from his home in Racine on Monday, Dec. 28, to Waukesha to meet up with the teenager he thought he was communicating with over the past week.
But before Hansen arrived at the apartment where he planned to meet her, his car became stuck in the snow on Waukesha's northeast side. He was arrested a short time later by Waukesha police, who conducted the undercover sting.
Hansen was charged the next day with the use of a computer to facilitate a child sex crime. If convicted of the felony, he could face up to 40 years in prison and $100,000 in fines.
Hansen made his initial appearance in court on Tuesday, Dec. 29, and a $2,500 cash bond has been set. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 14 at the Waukesha County Courthouse.
A court official ordered him not to possess any device that can access the Internet and to have no unsupervised contact with any minor female.
According to the criminal complaint, a Waukesha detective initiated an undercover operation on the social networking site 'MeetMee' in an attempt to catch individuals willing to travel to have sex with children. The undercover detective created a profile and included a photo of a fellow police officer taken when she was 15 years old.
Hansen first began interacting with the detective after seeing the picture online on Dec. 23. The detective, using a female's name, also communicated with Hansen via the Kik messenger service, a phone application. The detective told Hansen the female was 15 years old. According to the complaint, Hansen then asked if she was a virgin.
As the conversation ensued, Hansen began sending the undercover detective explicit images of his genitals and began talking explicitly regarding sexual acts he wanted to perform with the girl, the complaint said.
The complaint says the detective reminded Hansen on more than one occasion that 'she' was only 15 years old. Despite this, Hansen said he wanted to meet her that day, the complaint said. The detective told Hansen she was unable to meet until Monday, Dec. 28.
Hansen then sent the detective a message on Dec. 27 stating 'Tomorrow,' the complaint said. They agreed to meet at 10 a.m., and Hansen, according to the complaint, sent another image of his genitals.
On Dec. 28, Hansen continued to talk explicitly with the detective about what sexual acts he wanted the girl to perform on him. Hansen told the detective he was leaving his house at 9:53 a.m. Dec. 28. The detective provided him with directions to an apartment the detective told Hansen the girl lived in, the complaint said.
The complaint said that as Hansen was en route to the Waukesha apartment complex his vehicle became stuck in the snow near Saratoga and Lexington drives in Waukesha.
According to the complaint, Hansen said he would have walked to the apartment because he was less than a mile from his destination. However, before he had that chance, a Waukesha sergeant found Hansen inside his 1997 Mercury Cougar.
Hansen said in the complaint that despite talking about meeting and having sex with the 15-year-old online, while driving to Waukesha he thought about how it was wrong to meet her.
While in custody, Hansen told a detective — not the one who was conducting the undercover sting — that his intention was to just talk to the girl, the complaint said. Hansen also told the detective despite the 'girl' asking him to bring condoms, he didn't because he wasn't going to have sex with her, the complaint said.
Hansen added that when he was near the apartment he turned around to go home but was eventually stopped by police, the complaint said.