Man, 65, found guilty of abducting 10-year-old boy from ice arena
Martin Schellentrager arrested last July without pants, shoes
Martin Schellentrager. Photo submitted by CUYAHOGA COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT
CLEVELAND – A Cuyahoga County judge found a 65-year-old man guilty of abducting a boy at Iceland USA last summer.
Common Pleas Judge Michael E. Jackson handed down the conviction against Martin Schellentrager at a bench trial that ended Feb. 7.
Jackson will sentence Schellentrager, who was acquitted of a felony kidnapping charge, on March 10. He faces a maximum three years in prison. A kidnapping conviction could have carried a possible 11-year prison sentence.
Schellentrager was arrested by Strongsville police outside the Holiday Inn and taken to the Strongsville jail last July 10. He was indicted on a single kidnapping charge with bond set at $100,000. The bond was reduced to $35,000 and Schellentrager was released in October. He was allowed to live with his brother, a psychologist, according to court records.
Witnesses called police July 10 after they said a man with no pants or shoes wrapped his arms around a 10-year-old boy in the lobby of the building and started pulling him toward the front doors. The two made it about 20 feet before the boy’s father intervened and grabbed his son, prosecutors say. Schellentrager walked outside where police arrested him.
Employees of the ice rink, a witness, the boy and his father all told the officers Schellentrager tried to drag the boy out of the rink, according to court records. The boy, his father, a witness and two officers testified at the two-day trial.
Prosecutors last week asked Jackson to consider lesser-included charges of abduction, a third-degree felony, and criminal child enticement, a first-degree misdemeanor, when Jackson began deliberating on the kidnapping charge.
Jackson said prosecutors did not prove Schellentrager’s actions caused the boy serious physical harm, a key element of the kidnapping statute.
Schellentrager committed the enticement, Jackson said, but his actions amounted to more than just the soliciting or luring of a child and involved physical restraint, so he applied the abduction charge.
Common Pleas Judge Michael E. Jackson handed down the conviction against Martin Schellentrager at a bench trial that ended Feb. 7.
Jackson will sentence Schellentrager, who was acquitted of a felony kidnapping charge, on March 10. He faces a maximum three years in prison. A kidnapping conviction could have carried a possible 11-year prison sentence.
Schellentrager was arrested by Strongsville police outside the Holiday Inn and taken to the Strongsville jail last July 10. He was indicted on a single kidnapping charge with bond set at $100,000. The bond was reduced to $35,000 and Schellentrager was released in October. He was allowed to live with his brother, a psychologist, according to court records.
Witnesses called police July 10 after they said a man with no pants or shoes wrapped his arms around a 10-year-old boy in the lobby of the building and started pulling him toward the front doors. The two made it about 20 feet before the boy’s father intervened and grabbed his son, prosecutors say. Schellentrager walked outside where police arrested him.
Employees of the ice rink, a witness, the boy and his father all told the officers Schellentrager tried to drag the boy out of the rink, according to court records. The boy, his father, a witness and two officers testified at the two-day trial.
Prosecutors last week asked Jackson to consider lesser-included charges of abduction, a third-degree felony, and criminal child enticement, a first-degree misdemeanor, when Jackson began deliberating on the kidnapping charge.
Jackson said prosecutors did not prove Schellentrager’s actions caused the boy serious physical harm, a key element of the kidnapping statute.
Schellentrager committed the enticement, Jackson said, but his actions amounted to more than just the soliciting or luring of a child and involved physical restraint, so he applied the abduction charge.