Online relationship is at heart of family incident in Twin Lakes
By Jason Arndt
Editor
A Baltimore man accused of sexually exploiting a Twin Lakes girl through online communications waived extradition in a Maryland courtroom Wednesday and is awaiting transport to Kenosha County.
David Schuman, 21, arrested by Maryland authorities at his home on Tuesday, had his alleged online communications exposed following a stabbing incident between the victim and her father.
Online court records in Maryland indicate he made his initial appearance on Tuesday and waived his extradition hearing the following day.
“This relationship included the exchange of sexually explicit photographs along with conversations related to the girl wanting to harm her father,” a Twin Lakes Police Department news release states.
Twin Lakes Police Chief Adam Grosz said Kenosha County authorities will arrange his transportation.
“Once he is cleared to be extradited, the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department will likely be the agency who arranges for his transportation to Wisconsin,” he said. “They will send staff out to Baltimore to get him and bring him back to begin the court process.”
According to the criminal complaint, Schuman is charged with sexual exploitation of a child, causing a child to view/listen to sexual activity, exposing a child to harmful material and possession of child pornography.
The charges stem from an investigation authorities began on Jan. 13 when the 14-year-old victim allegedly stabbed her father in the face after he learned about the online relationship.
Schuman, investigators said, does not have any known ties to Twin Lakes or Wisconsin.
According to the complaint, the victim told her parents she considered Schuman her fiancé, and revealed she was able to “hide it” for eight months.
The victim’s parents, meanwhile, feared she would harm herself and told her she was not allowed to sleep in her bedroom.
The following day, on Jan. 13, the victim was again not allowed to sleep in her bedroom. The girl then offered to wash dishes in the kitchen, where she found two butcher knives, one of which was used to stab her father in the face.
The girl, who is charged with attempted murder in the stabbing, started communicating with a man called Dave when she was 13 years old, the complaint contends.
After the stabbing incident, a detective with Twin Lakes Police Department reviewed the girl’s journal entries, which indicated she wanted to run away with him.
“A 20 yr old guy dating a 13 yr old girl doesn’t sound right but he doesn’t see me as a 13 yr old child,” she wrote in June entry. “He says Im the most mature 13 yr old he has ever met. I sadly don’t know him but he says he will take a trip here soon.”
In the same entry, she said they exchanged nude photos, and that he is from Maryland.
Additional journal entries revealed she had planned to kill her father on at least four occasions.
Meanwhile, through review of the girl’s phone, the detective uncovered several more exchanges, including video of the man who matched Schuman’s description. Investigators also found a phone number and traced it to a Baltimore address.
Twin Lakes Police Chief Adam Grosz praised investigators from his department, state Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigation and Baltimore authorities.
“These types of investigations are always difficult and complex,” Grosz said. “Everyone, across multiple agencies worked together in an effort to identify and get this suspect in custody.”
The Report will have more in the March 8 print edition.