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Alan R. Ahrenholtz faces a bench trial February 23, 2010 in Sarpy County Nebraska District Court.
He is charged with Enticement by Electronic Communication Device, a class IV felony, and faces up to five years in prison, a $10,000 fine, or both, if convicted.
Ahrenholtz was arrested June 10, 2009 following an investigation by the Bellevue, Neb. police department. Ahrenholtz's internet conversations turned out to be with a Bellevue detective, who had set up a profile of a 15-year-old girl in a "romance" chat room, a press release from the Bellevue Police Department said.
Ahrenholtz allegedly contacted who he thought was the 15-year-old in February, 2008, and had allegedly sexual conversations. Photos also were exchanged, reports said.
It's also alleged that Ahrenholtz, in April, 2008, transmitted sexually explicit images to the detective via the internet, and such conversations and sexual material transmissions continued through August, 2008.
The investigation was closed this past summer when authorities asked Ahrenholtz to come to the Bellevue Police Department concerning the criminal case being investigated. He willingly came in and was arrested without incident. He turned over his laptop computer, thumb drive and cell phone, reports said.
BPD Commander of the Criminal Investigations Bureau Lt. Dave Stukenholtz said the department just recently began conducting such investigations to crack down on internet crimes. In this case, Ahrenholtz made the contact with the detective posing as a minor, reports said.
James Schaefer, attorney for Ahrenholtz, was quoted as saying this week that the case will be heard before a judge (bench trial) instead of in front of 12 people from the community, a jury trial. He said he felt the case was better to be heard in front of a judge.
Ahrenholtz has been out on bail since his arrest last summer.
He was a former Woodbine resident, who served on the school board and was a youth coach.
